Juletræ
by Axantur
Summary: As the events of "Sael" draw to a close, the arrival of a mysterious evergreen tree from across the ocean portends not only the coming Yuletide season in Christiansborg Palace, but also the very first Christmas for a certain former little mermaid.
1. Juletræ - A Most Unusual Shade of Green

**Author's Note:** _With the Christmastide approaching, I felt the desire to offer a little gift to those who have followed my writings, who have reviewed, who have written me notes and been such wonderful company over the past year and more. I struggled with what I wanted to write as this Christmas Gift… should it be the next chapter of Sael, of Atalantë, of Indigo Sea?_

 _No, instead, I wanted something with a Christmas theme, something by which Ariel's future happiness with Eric in her human life might begin to peek through the pain she has been suffering in Sael. Hence there arose in my mind a certain piece of snowy fluff, certainly contiguous with the story I am telling, but a little bit of a cheat, a little bit of a peek into the future somewhere between Sael and its epilogues and Shako._

 _With this I would like to wish a Merry Christmas and a happy two thousand and sixteen to everyone who has written to me, reviewed, and enjoyed my writings to date. I appreciate you all. I have the highest hopes that another chapter to one of my other stories will follow by the close of New Year's Day, though I shan't promise._

 _And last I would like to offer my warmest wishes and prayers for happiness to certain mermaid and mermen known to frequent these waters, these being The Queenie (of Course!), TardisBlueMermaid, Crisis Rose, Converse R Life, Lugubrious DBB, Eloise Rae, FizzyLemon, the BritCrit, xSummersx, LocalSportsTeam, Rosa Cotton, AndyBezh, and many others. Merry Christmas (and very likely a belated Happy Hanukkah for Andy!)_

 _And "The Nameless One," thank you for your kind reviews and words. They are noticed and deeply appreciated!_

 _ **Publication Date:**_ _Friday, December 25th, 2015 (Christmas!) ( **Major Emendations:** Thursday, December 31st, 2015)_

* * *

 **Juletræ**

 **Chapter 1 – A Most Unusual Shade of Green**

 **~~~ Saturday, the 30th of November, 1805 AD ~~~**

 **~ 2:47 p.m. ~**

 **Christiansborg Palace – Christiansted, Sankt Croix**

With the waning of the year the days had grown short, the sun setting each day upon Sankt Croix earlier and earlier. Had it not been so overcast, the shadows of the tall towers and halls of Christiansborg Slot would have stretched far out across the small bight of sea that lay to its east beyond the quay, until they touched at last the newly returned schooner _Sophia._

In the offing, mounting whitecaps strode in toward the palace from far out beyond Prince Frederick's Bay, above which the skies had taken on a somber, livid hue. Throughout the day a brisk westerly wind had been freshening, carrying with it a deepening chill and darkening skies. Since before midday rain squalls had marched in across the island from the western Caribbean beneath overcast skies, while beneath the palace, sailors and workmen moved about the dock and quay, hurrying at their tasks against the wind and hardening rains.

 _Sophia_ was now finishing offloading her cargo of goods and sundries from the American mainland. She was a slender ship, a new Essex-built three-master; one that despite the many varieties of goods being offloaded had been dispatched a little more than seven weeks ago north to Savannah in hope of receiving a most peculiar cargo.

In truth, Savannah was not known to be the best port for obtaining such an item but was perhaps closest and thus had the best chance of receiving alive the exact sort of item sought, for they were known to grow only in the mountains wherein that river and its tributaries found their sources. Bringing one so far across the seas and into such warmer climes had required careful treatment, and keeping it alive even more so. It had been something of a gamble of course, depending on the chances of fair seas and winds prevailing throughout the journey, therefore other lesser examples of the cargo sought had been also been readied in preparation for coming the Yuletide.

* * *

"Most _unusual_ Master Sael." Aubrey Beauclerk, Lord Grimsby stood staring at the huge Fraser fir now being turned upright in the Dance Hall. "I should say I have never in my life _seen_ such a specimen, most especially not one so very _large_ to be sure; though I shall admit, I _have_ heard of the custom."

"Aye. Tho' I'm telling ya' yer Lordship, 'tweren't me the' one who ha' it brought here. 'Twas just there in th' hold when I went aboard ta inspect the cargoes. Along with them other trees."

"Well, it was _you_ who was _going on_ so on the Prince's birthday of how we had _need_ of one, was it _not_?" the Lord continued dryly. "That and _mermaids,_ if I remember correctly were your topics of discussion that morning." he continued, drawing a handkerchief and clearing his throat.

"Well, aye, but could'na been me tha' sent one o' the Prince's ships on such a voyage. Must ha' been the lad 'imself tha' done it." Sael replied, a respectful but questioning look in his eyes as he turned his cap in his hands. "An' ya' hafta admit, we got our _mermaid too_!" he finished in a low whisper, chuckling.

"Ah, yes, indeed we did." Grimsby nodded. "And your explanation does seem to be the most likely for our new arrival." he added, looking up at the tree.

"Well, no matter who was responsible, _I_ think it's _beautiful_!" Carlotta followed, staring upward just a little bit in awe while standing clear of where the sailors from _Sophia_ were now raising the tree, an evergreen that must be at least twenty feet tall. Why, it almost reached halfway to the arches of the hall's vaulted ceiling! "And such a _different_ shade of _green_ from what we have here on the island!" she whispered to herself, smiling. "I've only heard of them down in the south." Then, turning back to Grimsby and Sael she continued, "I'm amazed that it made the voyage still so alive."

"Oh, they's _about_ in th' old country Mistress. Seen m'first down in Holstein when I were a younger fella." Sael smiled a toothy grin at the woman. "They's families here and there tha' been lightin' em since good old Martin did so 'imself. Awful pretty when lit too, you'll see. Jus' wait 'til the Eve of Christmas!"

"I'm so excited! I can already imagine the look on _Eric's_ face; and I wonder what our little _Ariel_ will think."

A wry smile once again graced the Lord Grimsby's face "It is my guess that the princess will be especially excited about all of it, given what we have seen of her characteristic ebullience to date, the day before her birthday notwithstanding of course."

"Ya know, I thin' it a good sign. If th' lad's ta' rule the Danes someday, shouldn't be 'e King of 'em all, no' jus' in the north?" the old sailor replied, continuing to follow his men's movements as they finally seated the great tree in its equally large pot. "Ya' ha' ta' say tho', it's a pretty one."

The Prince's Minister nodded, looking dryly at the nearby grandfather clock. "Given your obvious enthusiasm for this rather _outlandish_ affectation, I shall leave you two to the remainder of its associated tasks. There _are_ other preparations for the Yuletide to be made, after all."

"Aye, yer Lordship." Hans replied, trying to offer the proper respect to a man he had known at a distance for many years, but not until the events of just a two weeks ago had he truly come to _know_.

Such it was, that great gulf of social rank and position which had existed between the two, Hans the lowly sailor, and Beauclerk, a Duke no less, and by all accounts not many years ago a powerful English Lord and politician. His position as a trusted advisor and Minister in the Court of Prince Frederick had brought him comparable influence therein for many years, though, as in all things with the former Regent, these had proven to be … less than secure.

With Grimsby however, Sael had always felt and understood the formality, the stiffness, even when the old Lord had been seasick, a common occurrence on Eric's many voyages. It had never been like that with Eric, mused Hans, for the old sailor had practically raised the boy at sea on ships.

With a respectful nod, Grimsby turned without a sound and departed across the dance floor, the heels of his shoes falling dully against the dark polished stone, their echoes strangely subdued compared to those of other footfalls within Hans' limited experience in this huge hall.

"Oh, an' yer Grace."

Grimsby paused, turning back, his right eyebrow lifted. " _Yes_ , Master Hans?"

"Thank ya' fer yer help." the old salt smiled, winking at the taller man.

Once again, the old Lord nodded. "And thank you for yours, my good fellow." his wry smile curling up the corners of his mouth at the sailor's friendly impertinence. Grimsby turned silently once again and headed again for the Grand Stair. Reaching it, he disappeared without a sound into its downward spiral, the neat little queue of his white powdered wig being the last thing to vanish.

Turning back to Mistress Carlotta, Hans followed her gaze up along the tree's diagonal fringe, up to its thin point far above.

To his surprise, she turned and looked at him, smiling. "Oh, don't mind _him_ Hans, he likes you quite a bit I think after everything you did for our new little princess." Then, looking around and toward the south side of the hall, she went on "Speaking of her, where could those two _be_? Shouldn't they have been back by now?"

* * *

Several miles to the west of the Christiansborg Slot a small phaeton was making its way slowly eastward, its two occupants each fixated upon their appointed tasks. On either side before and behind them rode mounted guards, four in all, each heavily armed. Ten paces ahead rode Captain Carlson.

Princess Ariel, driving, had her attention firmly fixed upon the earthen road that stretched out ahead of her, her eyes bright and wide despite the gloomy waves of clouds in the skies above and the spitting rain which occasionally worked its way underneath the raised dark top of the carriage.

Prince Eric, on the other hand, had his attention firmly fixed upon the Princess, taking great care not only to supervise her driving, but to ensure that she was comfortable and warm. With the squalls working their way across the island had come a chill quite unusual for even that time of year. The couple had begun to first feel it a little before noon that day at the Boyd Plantation, and it had come as something of a shock to the former mermaid.

Apparently Ariel didn't care much for the cold; something Eric had remedied, at least in part, by wrapping his long cloak around her; that along with his right arm. His princess seemed to greatly appreciate both gestures, given how she had smiled at and kissed him so sweetly. Sometimes it was worth being a little cold, and Ariel's gentle kisses could warm the young prince's heart like nothing else he knew.

Like most of his activities over the past month and a half with his bride-to-be, riding with her was a not-so-secret pleasure. Eric never tired at seeing the expressions in her eyes, at feeling how a smile was always near her lips at anything new, unusual, or informative. That day had been such a vast improvement over how the disastrous weekend before last had begun.

"Enjoying yourself?" he asked, wrapping his right arm a little more around her waist and pulling her a little closer to himself.

In reply, she turned her head slightly to him and nodded, offering a delightful smile as she leaned deeper into him. Her eyes sparkled despite the dull light as she turned them back to the Road. In the distance far beyond the town stood dimly the ochre north towers of the Palace, partly veiled by the streaming low gray clouds.

"You know," he continued, not quite in a whisper, "…if I remember correctly, you can _speak_ now."

"Oh!" she giggled. "I was just trying to pay attention to the road like you and the Captain said I should."

" _I know._ You're doing great too. I'm impressed!"

"You _are_?!" Ariel asked, her voice rising happily. "I mean, I _am_?!"

Eric nodded. "Of course! You've driven half of the way back from Frederiksted, and every bit as well as I could have, maybe even better." he said, with more than a little excitement in his voice. "To be honest, I'm beginning to think that _Trooper_ knows where you want him to go before you even pull at the reins."

Ariel smiled and giggled again "Oh! That's just because he's so smart, and sweet! Are they all as smart as Trooper, Eric?"

The former mermaid felt a moment of wetness and warmth at her temple as she was caught by surprise by Eric's silent kiss. For a moment she closed her eyes, then snapped them open again, grinning as she remembered that she had to keep them open while driving. Still, she leaned her upper body closer to her fiancé while canting her head to the right, slightly exposing the left side of her neck, being quite hopeful that another kiss might follow.

And one did.

 _"Mmmm…."_

Sighing softly and letting her eyes flutter slightly, she wished that she could return Eric's kiss, but instead let him know her appreciation by the softness of her tone and how her slender neck continued to seek his lips, ever so innocently."

Save for her _birthday_ , Ariel couldn't imagine a happier day than this one had become, even with the chill, wind, and rain. It had begun like so many of late, with Carlotta awakening her, whereupon she had risen to wash her body, her _human_ body … with _legs_!

The two had shared what seemed like hours of lantern-lit stories and laughter that morning until the sun had finally risen in the east. The color of her dress and bow that day had been what her friend had called an "emerald green," a fabric, she had learned weeks ago, that was called "silk," one that seemed to shimmer beneath the light and felt smooth and supple to the touch, like the skin of a finely scaled fish. Had her hands not both been preoccupied at that moment with the reins, she would have probably been rubbing the fabric of her sleeve between her fingers. Most of her gowns had that feel, that slickness, being made of such fine silken cloth. She never tired of it and wondered if all human girls had such dresses.

Given that she and Eric would attend church the next day in Christiansted, when he had asked her what she wished to do for her Saturday with him, she had begged him to take her back to the Boyd Plantation on the west end of the island.

The Sunday two weeks before had been her first time to visit that place, and there had been _so many_ new things to see and do. Piglets! Horses and their babies! What was the word? Oh yes! " _Foals_!" They were all so beautiful, and so _adorable_. She had spent an hour cuddling and feeding baby pigs and a newborn litter of puppies; and she had learned so many new words and names, seen so many new things, things like how humans made _sugar_.

Mr. Boyd and his wife had been so kind to her, and seemed genuinely interested in her, though then they hadn't known her full story unlike today. How pleased she was to see them again last Sunday evening when they all had _surprised_ her so. She loved being _human_ , and by the end of that Sunday she felt as if she had been human _all of her life_ ; though she _was_ a bit tired, and some of the new words and concepts she had learned still seemed a bit _odd_ to her. Eric had driven them both back home then, as she had lain against him, fighting heavy eyelids before returning to the palace, washing again, and setting out to sea.

But it hadn't been enough, not _quite_. She had wanted to see puppies and piglets again, and to go riding with Eric, even though they did this together at the palace sometimes. It was a different place, and that meant everything to her, new people, new experiences, how beautifully the plantation looked out over the ocean. She wondered what a sunset would look like there … not that she particularly liked sunsets.

So this morning Eric had taken her _back_. The morning had been a fine one and thus they had made the trip in fair time, leaving just after sunrise when the light was good enough to see. To the former mermaid, the carriage ride to Frederiksted seemed a very long one to have to sit still, inactivity not being one of her strongest proclivities.

Still, the sights to be seen, the sounds to be heard, and the scents to be smelled had been exhilarating, even though she had experienced many twice in the previous weeks since she had become human on their trips to the church in that distant town. Eric and she attended the Church of the Holy Trinity there every other Sunday, and it was that part of their new life, Eric's faith, that remained most confusing and sometimes even troubling to her.

Late that morning after a lovely picnic luncheon they had stopped in Frederiksted, and for the first time Eric took Ariel "shopping" there. As a surprise he even gave her a "coin purse," of her very own, so she too could jingle wherever she went. Strangely, the coins inside didn't jingle as much in the purse as she had hoped they might from what little Archimedes had told her, causing her to wonder if there might be something wrong with either the coins or the purse. After a little experimentation though, she found that to make them jingle she merely had to skip a bit as she walked, or simply jump; but after that terrible day two weeks ago she wasn't very comfortable jumping any more.

To her surprise, Eric showed her how coins could also be used for shopping! Aside from jingling, humans used the shiny little discs and pieces of metal in a way almost like her people had used gifts in Atalantë!

Today this had been especially fortunate because the shops in Frederiksted had been closed during their previous visits, given that both had fallen on Sundays. Sunday seemed very special to Eric's people, a holy day devoted to worship of their god that they called the "Sabbath" in English, which fortunately both he and she spoke equally well; well … almost, she giggled to herself.

Today had been different. Frederiksted had been so _busy_ that morning, with so many people, so many animals, and _ships_ spread out across the pretty bay! Even the darkening skies in the west had just made the sight of it all so much prettier.

The ride to Frederiksted had been lovely, despite having to remain seated for so long. _Driving,_ though, driving was _so much more_ _fun_!

It all felt so _wonderful_ , the carriage rumbling beneath her, the wind in her hair and even the flying rain in her face, the pretty stallion ahead of them, all as she sat there in Eric's embrace. Never had she dreamt of such things before she had first seen Eric; only stories, vagaries, hints of what that world might be like. Now though, here she was, breathing the air of the upper world, feeling water on her face, water falling from the sky! She had cuddled puppies, and piglets, and foals, and all sorts of baby animals from Eric's world … _her world_. The world _she_ had _chosen_.

She felt so … _human_.

"So, did you have a nice day?"

Once again Ariel nodded, joyfully this time, being unable to repress that beautiful smile of hers. "Oh, _yes_ _Eric!_ It was _wonderful_!" she replied, almost crying out the words despite herself. "It's not over yet though, it's still a while before the sun sets, _right_?" she asked, the hopefulness unmistakable in her voice. As it had been before the incident with Knudsen and then Østerby, she didn't want her day to end.

"That's right, though it's hard to tell with these skies." he said, looking up out from beneath the top and furrowing his brow in frustration. "When we get back, we'll freshen up, change for dinner, and then we'll have the whole evening together."

A happy giggle came from the girl. "Will you read another book to me?"

"Of course, but I'd like to see you read some of it too."

"Oh?" she asked, looking over at him then back to the road. " _Why_?"

"Because I love listening to your voice, and I like seeing how much you've learned. I'm not just impressed by your driving you know."

"Oh!" Ariel smiled, thinking she had understood then stopped to puzzle over what she thought Eric might have meant instead. "You're _not_?" Ariel puzzled at this, thinking through the words to be sure she had understood them correctly, focusing on the "not." She replied once she was sure that she hadn't followed his meaning after all. "Eric, I don't think I understood." she said, lowering her eyes slightly.

Sometimes it was easy for Eric and those around Ariel to forget that the former mermaid wasn't a native speaker of English, especially given that of them, only Aubrey had been born into that language.

When Ariel spoke, her voice was always clear, her pronunciation and diction exquisite, even given her almost American habit of sometimes dropping her terminal "g's." The latter wasn't something Eric would ever mention to her though, lest she change and thereby lose that quality which to him was so uniquely … _her_.

No, it was her usage that sometimes gave her alien origins away, certain phrases, modes of expression, idioms that left her befuddled or confused, or that she attempted to use, but incorrectly. Most of the time Eric had to work to remember this, and sometimes he slipped or said something confusing or incomplete, like he just had.

"I just meant that I love listening to you read. I'm sorry sweetheart, I didn't express my thought very well. I just can't believe that you taught yourself not only how to _speak_ English, but how to _read_ it too!"

"Oh!" Ariel smiled and blushed as she watched the road ahead. "Thank you, but you know it _wasn't_ just me Eric," she said, still smiling at his compliment and more than a little bit proud of herself. "Like I've said, Archimedes helped, even my mother did a little"

"Yes, but _you're_ the one who worked so hard to learn it that I have to really listen to realize you haven't spoken English your entire life." Eric replied, kissing her softly again on her left temple. "In fact, I think you speak English better than I do."

"No I _don't_." the girl giggled, blushing again, more furiously this time. "And if so, it would only be because Archimedes shushed and corrected me every time I said something in the slightest wrong way." She paused. "Did you know that we had to go to caves with air pockets in them to actually practice speaking?"

Eric felt such a sense of relief. Two weeks ago he had feared that their new life together had been destroyed, if for no other reason than that his bride-to-be had been destroyed, her spirit broken by one of his closest friends and the untoward events that had unfolded throughout that day. His own memories of the Doctor remained unclear, two versions of the same events competing for his belief, and while there had since been no sign of Østerby, there had also been no killing; at least that had been reported. The possibility that Grimsby's assassin might have succeeded troubled Eric.

There had been a distance between him and Grim since then, but as Prince, it was Eric's responsibility. Whatever had gone before, if anything; he couldn't, wouldn't, allow a man to be murdered in his name without a fair trial. Disturbingly, the huntsman Master Van Dyke had not been seen since Aubrey had dispatched him on his errand. There was a reason that Ariel went under heavy guard now wherever she, or they, went. Eric wondered if she suspected why, but quickly forced his mind back to happier thoughts.

For all these reasons, her renewed happiness had come as such a welcome change. Of course her birthday couldn't have turned out to be a happier one in the end, what with the many surprises he and Grimsby had successfully arranged for her. Being surrounded by her family had seemed to renew the girl. Eric was heartened when Aaron had quietly told him that Monday that she was _still_ busying herself trying to resolve the sole remaining matter from that Saturday, at least the one of which she _knew_.

"Is something wrong?"

"Eh?" Eric started, snapped out of the quiet thought into which he had drawn himself. "Oh, no. I was just thinking."

"I'll give you a …" she paused, her eyebrows knitting together for a moment as she worked to recall a word, the name of a coin. "… _penny_ …" she beamed. "A _penny_! … _I'll give you a penny for your thoughts_!" she added triumphantly.

It had been _weeks_ ago that she had heard Eric first use that phrase, when he had said those same words to her, wondering why she had become so quiet as they had sat together in the library reading together. She hadn't had the heart to tell him that she had nearly fallen asleep. She loved how his fingers felt as he would move them through her hair when he sat with and held her. It was so relaxing, and it was at such moments that she wondered if indeed she had already found _Heaven_ , that she didn't need a soul to know such utter happiness, or if, as Eric insisted, that she already _had_ a soul after all.

Eric smiled to himself, hearing her use the expression, then realized that he owed his fiancée an answer. The prince found himself scrambling in his mind to remember what she had been talking about. He had been listening, and for that reason his thoughts had gone off to dwell on unpleasant and even frightening things.

He didn't want to dredge up the whole business from two weeks before that seemed to have drifted away of its own accord, and he certainly didn't want to discuss his concerns about what Grim had revealed to him and Aaron. No, there was no use in having her scared out of her wits again. Her father, Grim, Aaron and the Guard all knew now, more or less. She was safe, and telling her would risk sending her back to that awful place he had found her in two week before, when Max had brought him, Hans and Aaron back to her chambers.

Then something disturbing struck him, and out of pure fear he spoke. "Wait." he paused. "Ariel, you went into caves _alone_ with a grown _man_? I mean … _merman_?"

Ariel looked over at him, nodding quietly, as a look of puzzlement filled her eyes. "Is that … _wrong_?" she asked, her face the picture of innocence, before turning her eyes back to the road before them.

Eric had met the merman in the preceding weeks and knew from the moment he had that the old fellow was, if anything, almost as gentle as Ariel. He was also very intelligent and spoke impeccable English as well as Greek, and Eric looked forward to speaking with him in the future. As innocent as Ariel was, it was all too easy to see how his little mermaid had come to trust the merman so.

Ariel, for her part, understood exactly what Eric was concerned about, that she had taken a tremendous risk allowing herself, a princess no less, to grow so close to and be alone with a stranger, and an outcast. Though the human concept of a lady's "honor" seemed more complex in some ways than her people had understood it, she understood the danger of a _compromise_. Between her people and Eric's the concept was the same, only the name differed.

What Eric didn't, couldn't, realize was that from the moment she had encountered Archimedes that first time on the verge of the Wilderness, Ariel had _remembered_ him. He had been her mother's closest friend and advisor for a time, a merman to whom her mother had personally introduced her on her birthday at the Cove. Other than her father, who among mermen could have been _more trustworthy_ , who else could tell her stories about her dead mother when her own father wouldn't even speak of Athena?

"Eric, it's alright. Please don't worry." she paused. "Besides, I was still just a _girl_."

"Ariel, that's exactly my point." It was more the general situation that concerned Eric; he was aware from the Sea King himself that Triton had warned his daughters against the possibility of compromises to their honor, to their reputations and the disaster such an occurrence might bring. Ariel herself had been quite careful of this since recovering from the night she had almost lost her life to the Witch. So why was he so worried? "When did this … happen?" he asked, the words almost falling out of his mouth as he realized he was getting ahead of his thoughts with what he was saying.

"A year ago." Ariel stopped herself, this time a bit more hesitantly, wary of where this conversation was now leading.

Eric could tell that his fiancée was lost momentarily in thought. She had the most beautiful look when she was thinking, in this case remembering as it turned out.

"Well, maybe a little more than a year." she added softly.

Of course Ariel hadn't known back then that Archimedes had once been one of her father's most trusted advisors too, a high noble along as well as a scholar. She had simply remembered him and trusted her mother, trusted her own instincts for people. She had liked him instantly when she had met him with all of her six and then later fourteen years behind her. He was handsome, funny, and kind … and treated her with respect in the last few years when her own father had not.

Ariel felt a deep pain rising within her, a hurt which had lain dormant for weeks now. Was Eric being just like her _father_ , not trusting her judgment?

" _Eric_ … Archimedes would _never_ have done anything to hurt _me!_ " she blurted out, but not too loudly, not wanting this to escalate into a fight; but the hurt and pain had already risen in her voice. "He's like … an … an … _uncle_ to me."

In the back of his mind Eric couldn't help imagining her, his Ariel, finding herself alone with someone charming, and intelligent, someone offering to show her all the wonders of the human world that he had not yet been able to. Someone like _Østerby_. What if he fell ill again as he had just a week after they had both been able to once again walk? What if he couldn't be there to protect her? It was a strange feeling he was having all at once, protectiveness, fear, anger … fear for his little mermaid; fear for himself. He knew that Aaron and Hans and Grim would be there for her, but he couldn't let go of the fear of not being there for her if she needed him. What if he lost her, just as he almost had two weeks ago, just as he almost had two months ago … just as he had lost his _mother_?

"Ariel. Just because someone is close like a relative doesn't mean you should trust them like that. After all, you told me that you thought the _Witch_ was your _aunt_."

The former mermaid felt that familiar pain surge now in her chest as her eyes grew wet, and not from the rain either. Her jaw began to quiver as she struggled against a sudden upwelling of dark and anguished memories. Her hands shook visibly as she stared down now at the reins, trying to remember how to slow Trooper and bring their carriage to a stop; but she couldn't.

Given that Ariel was nestled so closely against him, Eric felt the change in her posture immediately, felt what might have been a stifled sob shudder through her, and realized what he had done, the effect his words had obviously had upon her. Seeing his fiancée struggling with the reins, he took her hands gently into his own and slowly brought the phaeton to a halt.

Noting the Prince's action, the outriders signaled Carlson with a low whistle, whereupon the officer turned to survey the situation, doubling back toward the carriage.

 _"Ariel. Ariel? I'm sorry. Please … listen to me."_ he whispered. In her silence Eric was reminded of how direly she had just two weeks ago reacted to his stupid words, and now fully expected her to do the same, to try to pull away from him, to flee someone who was so unthinking and callous in his raw speech; but she _didn't_. Instead she did the exact opposite, turning and pulling herself further into his embrace. Then, laying her left cheek softly against right shoulder … she began to cry.

Even as he wrapped her warmly in his arms, her reaction sent a chill up his spine. She should have been cross with him, even angry, and he knew she was, that she must be; but instead she had just _collapsed_. Rather that she were staring at him with that beautiful spirited fire of hers kindling in her eyes rather than the sobbing girl she had just become in his arms.

Whatever Østerby had done to her to leave her so fragile that Saturday, did it s _till hold her?_

Ariel, for her part, didn't know what she should do. Eric was _right_ , her father had been _right_. Yes, it was reckless and stupid for her to have taken such a risk, just as it had been with the Witch; but _she_ had been _right too!_

She had been _right_ about Archimedes. He had been the _only_ _one_ other than her mother who had known _anything_ about humans, the only one who would talk to her about her mother _at all_. Even Attina and her sisters didn't like to because of the pain it brought them.

By befriending Archimedes, she had _earned_ the chance to learn about her mother, to know her more in some ways even than Attina did. At the same time she had learned to _never_ discuss Athena's fascination with the surface world with her father. Athena's secret obsession hadn't been nearly as intense as Ariel's had become, but it had been there, her love of human art, of human books, of songs, dances, even ships.

Her mother, though, had been _afraid_ of humans too. Being older she had seen the evils some humans were capable of, and after she had actually become a _mother_ to seven little mermaids, that nascent fear had grown stronger in her.

 _"It's such a shame it's so hard to find just the good ones without the bad."_ she had told Archimedes once, that day at the cove, Ariel's first birthday on the surface, and her first birthday on land.

Ariel knew that she had been stupid in going to the _Witch_ , but Archimedes wasn't the Witch, he was her _friend_. Eric had even _met_ him! And how could she have ever learned to speak _Inwilya_ without him? Had she never learned _English_ , she would have had no idea of what Grimsby and Eric had been saying to one another, and she wouldn't have fallen in love with Eric.

No. Archimedes would have _never_ hurt her, no more than Eric would have, but now somehow, she didn't feel like fighting about it, defending herself. There were too many memories welling up from within deep her, so many memories that _hurt_ so much. She just wanted … to be held.

By this time Carlson had returned to the phaeton, signaling the guards and outriders to surround the Prince and his Princess while they stood stationary upon the road. The wind and rain whipped his cape upward as a sheet of rain fell across his back. He forced it down with his left arm.

Eric reached up, trying to shield Ariel from the new sheet of falling rain, and as he did so caught sight of Carlson drawing near off of Trooper's right flank. The man remained silent, his eyes looking first to the princess and then back to Eric. "It's all right Derek. She's all right. I just said something _stupid_ … as usual."

To this the soldier raised his right eyebrow and nodded respectfully, bringing his stallion about, then rode forward a few paces and respectfully out of earshot.

 _"Ariel, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I never do."_ Eric whispered from behind her right ear. "I just meant that your aunt was the perfect example of how you mustn't trust people just because they're close relatives or seem like them, that's all. Nothing more than that."

"She, _she_ … _it …_ wasn't my aunt."

"But I thought you said …"

"It just … just looked like her Eric." she cried softly. "I don't know _how_ , but I know now that it wasn't her, I knew the moment it took me _back_. It was something else, I don't know what; just like I knew Archimedes was my friend and that he _cared_ for me, that he wouldn't _hurt_ me."

Eric paused at the girl's mention of the word _"cared,"_ wondering if there was therein a deeper meaning intended, but quickly accepted the innocent meaning he was sure his little mermaid had intended. "Ariel. All right. I know he wouldn't _hurt_ you, and I really like Archimedes … a lot, I promise! It's just that, well, I'm afraid of what would happen if you put that sort of trust in a human man, some stranger, when I wasn't there, and then something … happened. Even if he turned out to be trustworthy, you always have to be careful of what people might _say_."

"I would never do anything bad like that Eric. It's not _fair_!" she sobbed, bringing her hand to her eyes to whisk away her tears. "Nobody says those sorts of things about _boys,_ about _men_ I mean."

"Yes they do, it's just that you haven't _heard_ about it yet, but it's always much worse for the girl involved, especially if she's a _princess._ "

It was true, what he was saying. Even in her own world, Ariel had never been much interested in the idle chatter humans called " _gossip_ ," but she had known its sting, even when she had done nothing wrong at all. And this was just about the matter of her oddness, her seeming disinterest in the young men of her own kind, all save for the one they had called _Urchin_.

He had just been a friend but some had still _talked_ , talked and spread rumors.

It had all seemed so silly to Ariel until Attina had one morning impressed upon her how very damaging her friendship with the young man might be seen, a princess and a commoner, even though her father had all but adopted the boy as a son.

After that day Ariel had never seen him again. She hadn't asked him to go, she hadn't even _seen_ him. _None_ of them had. He had just disappeared. They had looked for weeks and weeks and been unable to find him, until finally, her father had ordered the search ended. Almost two years ago the boy had been declared lost. Not lost, but rather _missing._ He was out there _… somewhere._

At least, that is what Ariel had _wanted_ to believe.

While he felt terrible for having made his love cry, Eric was at least grateful that she had turned to him for comfort, and that her tears had now seemingly abated. She was breathing steadily against him, quiet in thought, her breast rising and falling against his chest as she lay still against him.

Whatever Østerby had done to her had hurt her, but not destroyed her as he had feared. She remained the same girl with whom he had fallen in love, just less sure of herself, less headstrong, more fragile and perhaps less reckless. Was it truly Nils Østerby that had done this to her, or simply everything that she had suffered over the past two months?

Eric gently stroked her back as the rain fell against the top above. By now had it not been for the oilskin covering their laps they would have both been soaked through to the bone, yet their clothes remained reasonably dry and warm. The chill was penetrating though, making Eric wonder if it would grow as cold as it had been warm just weeks ago. Such strange weather. For the first time in Sankt Croix since he had lived here, fires in hearths would be truly welcome.

Ariel would do better in someplace like that, someplace dry with a blazing fire, and a warm mulled cider to drink.

She pressed against him now, lifting herself slightly until her deep blue eyes met his. For a few quiet moments she lay like that, looking at him, then lowered her eyes slightly. _"Eric, I won't be careless,"_ she said, her voice just a whisper. _"I promise … I'll try my best not to."_

She was quiet then, though it seemed to Eric that she had more to say, and seemed to be thinking about how she might say it. He mused to himself if that were the case, then it would be a quality of hers worthy of emulation. So he waited, listening to the rain fall about them, listening for her next words, which after another short few moments came just as quietly as the ones before.

 _"I know … I know I've done some stupid things in the past."_ she began, her voice falling off slightly so that her whisper could just barely be heard over the falling of the rain. _"It's just … I wish you would trust my judgment. At least … at least listen to me?"_

For a moment she was quiet again, then looked straight down at his chest. " _Please_ Eric … don't be like Daddy and _not listen to me_?"

By now Eric's heart was hurting so badly for his young wife-to-be that he thought it might burst. Rather than say anything though, he held her, gently stroking her shoulders and the back of her neck with his fingers, letting them stray only to play slightly with the hidden tresses of her hair nearby. And he used that time … to think, to think about what to say, and how to say it; and when he was at last ready and sure of himself, he spoke.

 _"Ariel."_ he said, matching her quiet with his own, holding her eyes now with his own; his lips poised a mere inch from hers. " _I trust your judgment."_ he smiled. " _And have I ever not listened to you … since your voice returned I mean? You have to know by now, hearing your voice, listening to you, having you with me is all that I live for."_

Her quiet lingered, as she seemed to consider his words. Then a slight smile began to play at the corners of her mouth and in her eyes.

 _"No strange mermen in caves though?"_ she whispered.

 _"No strange anybody in caves."_ he replied, bringing his lips to meet hers as both drew their eyes closed.

For a while, perhaps a minute or so, she lay against him as they kissed, safe and warm within his arms.

Laying her head softly back on his chest, the former mermaid smiled, _"I guess that means that I'm stuck with you then." **  
**_

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _I've always loved the idea of how Ariel would be at and around Christmas, though in the time frame in which I've chosen to write many of our most beloved traditions didn't exist. There were others instead._

 _Allow me to paraphrase from Danish version of Wikipedia (da Wikipedia org wiki Juletræ):_

 _Juletræ_

 _"Juletæet has its origins in_ _Germany, where the first local stories of Christmas trees were heard during the 1500s from cities like_ _Bern,_ _Freiburg_ _, and Strasbourg._

 _In the year 1521 had the city council put guards out at Kinzheimer town woods, keeping citizens away from the felling of Christmas trees (pine trees). In 1605 an unknown author wrote: "On Christmas Eve in Strasbourg, fir trees are brought into living rooms and hung with pleasingly cut ornaments of colorful paper, apples, wafers, tinsel and sugar etc."_

 _Until about 1800 the custom of Christmas trees was a local phenomenon of the bourgeoisie, who brought trees into their living rooms for Christmas. Subsequently the custom spread throughout Germany, and in 1796 a Christmas tree was erected in Wandsbech Castle in Holstein._

 _In_ _Denmark_ _the Christmas tree spread through Danish-German families and in Holsteinborg the first Christmas tree was lit in the year 1808. In_ _Copenhagen_ _the first Christmas tree was introduced in the year 1811 by the Lehmann family in New Kongensgade, where it caused a sensation. Curious people put ladders to the windows to see the Christmas tree, which was then generally considered an outlandish idea."_

 _As it turns out, there's a lot going on herein for both Eric and Ariel. They're both really talking and thinking past each other, never really stating what is upsetting them. I'm curious if what those somethings are come across to the reader. At least in Eric's case, the title of the chapter is a double entendre._

 _Now for an odd thought that I'm making up as I write it: The unstated rule number one of loving a girl is to never hurt her, and if possible to never make her cry, unless it is with tears of joy. Only genuine tears count in either case of course, but if such are shed, then one is instantly disqualified from deserving her love and affection. By this standard of course, no guys deserve girls' love and affection because, let's face it, we all have our "Eric" moments with "foot-in-mouth" disease. Still, we try, and I thought the dynamic that emerged here between the two was both surprising and touching, and possibly as Eric feared, indicative of something worrisome going on within Ariel's soul as well. Wait, did I say … "soul?" Must have been a slip of the tongue._

 _This chapter is the first part of a two or even three part story I wish to finish by Christmas or at the latest second Christmas (did you know that the 26th of December is actually "Second Christmas?") and if that plan fails (it likely will), then there are ten more nights of Christmas that follow._

 _That was when I planned to complete the next chapter of "Sael" by the way, New Year's Day._

 _This "biting off more than I can chew" seems to be a problem for me._

* * *

 ** _Acknowledgments and Credits:_**

 ** _Cover Art:_** _My thanks to the inestimable "Converse R Life" for identifying the source of the beautiful cover art I selected to accompany this story. Apparently it is from **"The Little Mermaid: The Holiday Treasure Hunt,"** possibly from the back cover._

 _Thank you Converse! :-)_

 _There may be various releases of this story available. Like other books in the Little Mermaid series, even though it is written primarily for a younger audience, it is delightful for its artwork and the story kernel it presents._

 _In fact, as my stories about Ariel, Eric and their families proceed, there will be moments that I draw upon elements of these books for inspiration. I'll note them of course as I do so!_

 _The link to the original I used is:_ www pinterest com pin 503136589595204546

 ** _Creative Contributions:_** _I would like to acknowledge the influence of Crisis Rose's "Keep Holding On" and TardisBlueMermaid's "Fallen Angel" on this story as well as "No Words" by Enchanted Mountain, "Out of the Dark" by xSummersx, and "Spring" by LocalSportsTeam. They're all wonderful stories and well worth reading, though the first two the latter three are incomplete._


	2. Juletræ - Reflections in the Falling Rai

**Author's Note:** _This story is taking a little longer to write than I had thought, but that's normally the case with all of my creative work. I've actually done quite a lot of research to underpin it and ended up drawing a blank and therefore making a pure guess at the 1805 Cruzan road system._

 _I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed Juletrae for their thoughts and encouragement, and the Nameless One for reminding me that I have until January 7th to finish it all before Christmastide ends as observed throughout Christendom._

 _That gives me time to complete the chapter 16 of Sael after I finish chapter 3 of this story!_

 _ **Publication Date:**_ _Tuesday, December 29th, 2015 (_ _ **Major Emendations:**_ _Friday, January 1st, 2016_ _)_

* * *

 **Juletræ**

 **Chapter 2 –** **Reflections in the Falling Rain**

 **~~~ Saturday, the 30th of November, 1805 AD ~~~**

 **~ 3:51 p.m. ~**

 **Christiansborg Palace – Christiansted, Sankt Croix**

A hundred yards to the south upon its low hilltop perch, an old windmill churned and creaked against the increasingly bitter and rain-laden wind, its great sails whirling round and round, driving its inner shaft and gears in whatever mundane task to which they had been appointed. The sound cut through the gusts of wind, serenading the couple in the pass below with its forelorn and burdened cries. The palace soldiery sat in a loose circle around the phaeton, keeping a respectful distance from its two occupants.

Eric let the rain fall for a few minutes more, holding his fiancée in his arms, listening to her soft breaths against the background of the pattering downfall, feeling the delicate flutter of her heart pressed up close against his own. She seemed to have recovered somewhat, and her little quip had brought a smile to his face. His soft kiss to the top of her head had followed in reply. After everything that had happened to her, she was still _his Ariel_ , yet her stillness troubled him. What was she thinking, had she fallen _asleep_?

 _"Ariel? Aren't you … angry with me?"_ he asked softly, in case she was indeed sleeping, though he quietly hoped that she wasn't.

To his surprise, she shook her head. With her left cheek laid against his right shoulder and chest, it was just the slightest of movements, one very subtle; but after what they had so far endured, Eric had become very sensitive to how Ariel _spoke_ to him, spoke to him without words. And to think, it had all begun with three all too short days.

From under the fringe of her crimson, almost rose-red bangs came a single soft word, one syllable, barely audible over the din of the falling rain.

 _"… no."_

The young prince found himself speechless. After all, she _should_ have been angry with him, at the very least quite _upset_ , after all, his words had brought her to tears again, this after he had hoped that he had banished her sorrows and fears the Sunday before last, along with Knudsen and Østerby.

She had cried far too much the day prior to that, but following that night her only tears had been ones of happiness, even joy. That in his stupid, unthinking anxiousness he had nearly just provoked an argument with her when he had simply wanted nothing more than to enjoy her company … made him ache inside. There were better ways to explain such things to her. Why was it _always_ like this with him, his words either too hasty when said, or not there at all when needed?

Against his chest, Ariel let the fingers of her right hand play about her ring finger as she wondered at the strange feeling of it being so … _occupied._ The former mermaid smiled softly, but she had already _been_ smiling, on the inside at least, ever since Eric had described his scolding statement to her as _"stupid"_ to Captain Carlson.

While it _wasn't_ stupid, from that little comment to the Captain, the young woman knew that Eric was _upset_ because of what he had said and regretful of how it had affected her; and now she suspected _why_ he had said it in the first place.

 _"Eric, I know you just want me to be safe. That's all that Daddy wanted for me too_." she whispered as she lay there quietly, feeling her prince and husband-to-be breathing in and out, also quietly, softly. She could hear his heart, pounding away in his chest. She could hear him thinking as he caressed her, her hair, her back, her shoulders. Even after less than two months of being truly _with_ him, Ariel could feel that he was listening to her. So she went on.

 _"I owe it to you to at least try to be careful. To try harder I mean." _She sighed. After a moment of quiet, she continued _. "You risked everything for me, and I didn't deserve that."_

The rain pelted the cloth top above them as the wind carried a spray of drops against the cloak in which Eric had surrounded Ariel earlier; earlier before they had set out back for Christiansted and the Palace. The same rain fell against the black oilskin that now lay spread across their laps, legs, and feet, keeping them reasonably dry. From there the water ran down onto and across the footboard, then further down off the right side of the phaeton and onto the road. Pooling, it trickled away in little rivulets off to the side of the road, then off east to join the nearby swollen brook. Even through the rain and wind, the babbling and churning sounds of the brook could be heard clearly beneath the low stone bridge ahead.

Though he worried about leaving Derek and his men soaking in the rain and cold, Eric couldn't _not_ devote his attention to his fiancée. The banns would be published the next day across the island while the letters would be soon enroute across the Atlantic on the next ship with the Governor's dispatches. The day after Easter Sunday they would become man and wife. As soft as they were, Ariel's words were now all that Eric heard, and while he welcomed what she said, he couldn't accept the generosity and self-denial of her conclusion.

"Ariel, _yes you did_. You _did_ deserve it, everything I did for you was merely my returning the love you had offered me."

He brought the fingers of his left hand to her right cheek, caressing it, playing gently in the wet tendrils of her crimson hair, hair that in the dull daylight now took on the hue of the petals of a dark red rose. "You risked your life to save mine, _more than once_ ; and you almost killed yourself just becoming human on the chance that you might find me." He paused again, his eyes distant, seeing something other than the girl laying there within his arms. "… Just on the _hope_ that I might return your love."

Ariel remained quiet against him as she contemplated his words, remembering the things that had come to pass between them, thinking about how he seemed to have perceived her actions, wondering if and how he might have still found her, had it not been for her one desperate act.

"I didn't know that before, when I first found you, but I do _now_ ; and _I_ don't forget such sacrifices Ariel." He was quiet for a moment, lost in thought again, then continued. "I hope that I haven't disappointed you."

He began to stroke her hair again with his left hand, to once again gently caress her back beneath her long red tresses, now half hidden by the half-folded hood of his cloak that she wore. "I'd do it all again for you … _I promise_. I'd do _anything_ for you Ariel, except let myself _lose_ you again. I'm sorry, that's just the price of having me, and you're going to have to live with it."

Her eyes were growing wet again, but not with tears of sadness, rather those of happiness and love. She hadn't grown angry with Eric because she had _understood_ how he felt about her, though she herself was unwilling to believe that she really _deserved_ him. She didn't. But he stubbornly insisted upon telling her repeatedly that she _did_ , that he _wanted_ her.

It comforted her, _he_ comforted her, just as he had when the Witch had come for her and he had fought _it_ when she couldn't herself, just as he had when _it_ had come again for both of them, when he had refused to leave her. Since she had awakened days after the battle with the Witch, he had never ceased to tell her how much he desired her in his life.

How could she _not_ forgive him, not try to _understand_ how he felt about her taking such risks? She never did with her father and look where it had led her; well, almost, had it not been for the man who was now holding her safe and warm in his arms.

Sometimes _she_ said hasty things too, words inspired by passion and not very clear thinking, even though she was quite capable of the opposite; at least she hoped that she was.

Had it been Eric in her place, wouldn't she have felt the exact same way – hurt, _jealous_ , protective, just as she had when Vanessa, the Witch, whatever she was, had almost taken him into a cursed marriage and then on to oblivion?

Had the _Ulusûlêth_ succeeded it would have been _her fault_ for dragging Eric into her folly, her nightmare. That part of what Henrik Knudsen had said last week had been _true_ , almost, and she _hated_ herself for it, for having been so blind to the dangers she had brought down upon Eric, upon her father, and upon their peoples.

She sniffed, wiping at her tears.

 _"I love you Eric."_ she whispered, as she fought off her thoughts and fears of what it would be like to lose **_him_**. They terrified her, more than _falling_ , more than _lampreys_ , more than _hateful sailors_ , more than the _Witch_ … more than _anything_. The thought of being alone without _him,_ it was something she had trouble even bringing herself to contemplate; and when he had collapsed on her the very week after it seemed that she, that they, had gained everything they had both ever desired; it had seemed like her world was ending suddenly … _horribly_.

 _"_ I love you too, _my little mermaid."_ came his reply, quiet and gentle as his fingers slid through her soft red tresses, soothing her and making her eyelids grow heavy.

She sighed.

Ariel mused how he always liked to call her that, and how it hadn't been long after he had first done so that Aubrey and Carlotta had followed suit. She _liked_ it too. Actually, she _loved_ it. Those three words like few others he said made her feel so warm and loved inside. She was _at home_ with Eric. When she had asked him _why_ he called her that a month ago, he had simply said that he never wanted either of them to forget who she was, who she had been, and what she had given up to be with him; as well as how much he recognized and _adored_ her for it.

How could she be _angry_ with him given all of _that_? How could she be so _lucky_? She was so _happy_ now, felt so serene, just because he was _holding_ her. That he was so _jealous,_ even of sweet old _Archimedes_ ; it actually made her feel a little _warm_ inside, and somewhat _guilty_ as well. As she lay there against him, she realized how clear now everything had become to her, just by waiting quietly for a handful of minutes, by not allowing herself to grow angry, by not allowing herself to be selfish and rash as she might have just two short months ago, a lifetime ago.

That had been how her mother had been … calm and quiet, even serene. Ariel smiled. Both Attina and Alana were that way too, sometimes; most of the time actually. Was she _too_ becoming more now like her mother, growing into her mother's image? If so, then she couldn't be too unhappy about it; after all, there were far _worse_ ways to be than how her mother had been.

 _"A penny for your thoughts … Princess."_ Eric whispered through her hair, into her right ear.

 _"Eric!"_ she whispered, snapping out of her reverie and raising her eyes to him without lifting her face from her Prince's chest. _"That's what I asked you." _she whispered back.

He nodded, lowering his lips to her right temple, kissing her softly, wetly; which she resisted not one bit, instead closing her eyes as he did so. "That's right, and instead of answering I made you _cry_. _I'm sorry love._ "

A mischievous smile returned to her lips.

 _"It's all right Eric ..."_ she whispered.

She opened her eyes once again, eyes that sparkled now with newfound mirth, stealing his breath away as she so often did.

 _"… as long as I get to drive the carriage the rest of the way back to the palace?"_ she finished, her eyes looking up into his, full of hope.

To such a wonderful, sweet entreaty, how else could he _possibly_ reply? He chuckled so softly that it was barely even a sound, just a loving rumble beneath her, from deep from within in his chest as he continued to caress her hair, neck, and back.

"Whenever you're ready, _my love_." taking care to subtly emphasize the last two words.

Ariel sighed and smiled even more brightly, closing her eyes and cuddling with him against the cold and the rain, feeling the slender filigreed golden band and its stone of adamant upon her finger, thinking of her wedding day, _their_ wedding day, and what might someday be born of it. She dreamt of babies, of their children, of a lifetime and a family of her own with Eric.

Oh, if only _someday_ ; but adventures too! There was still so, so much to see and so, so much to do between now and then! She also wondered how it all worked, babies, that is … human babies; and realized that she still didn't really know very much about how it all worked with merfolk either. The whole matter felt a little, well, embarrassing to her.

But this, being with Eric so; this was so _nice … and so warm_.

She nodded softly against him, at which she felt him slowly sit up as his arms raised and steadied her. Ariel found herself looking into his eyes once again, her former smile fading, a look of embarrassment and even regret taking its place. _"I'm sorry that I cried, Eric."_ she whispered.

"Ariel, don't be … _please_. It was _my_ fault for making you cry."

Ariel looked at him innocently, puzzlement lingering in her eyes. She wanted to agree, but knew that she would be wrong if she did; if not wrong in fact, then in spirit.

Eric studied her, then decided to elaborate. "I _meant_ well, but I have to learn to think things through, how I say things _before_ I say them, just like Grim says." He stopped, thinking of the seeming unlikelihood that the Two Crowns might ever be offered to him. The ability to speak, to control his thoughts and manner in discourse was of immense importance, and he would _need_ those skills were he ever to be King.

"I'm not _used_ to it, having to think through my words so carefully, and it breaks my heart when I fail to do so, when I say things that make you cry." The young prince stopped, considering his next words.

"It's just that, Ariel, I'm used to talking to _sailors_ , to men like Hans and Hendrik, men like Derek's soldiers, not to ladies. I never _mean_ to be callous like I was when I said that to you, and especially not to _you_." He paused. "I'm trying to learn though, _please trust me_ when I say that."

She listened, trying to decide what to say. That he was right? That she understood? That she trusted him? That she would always trust him? But she too found herself at a loss for words, despite all of the thoughts that had passed through her heart and mind since he had brought the carriage to a halt. So instead … she kissed him. It began as a soft and tender kiss to his lips, but as he returned it, it grew deeper and stronger until they at last parted, breathless, each slowly opening their eyes to look into the other's.

He sat there, still holding the young maiden loosely, she perched in his lap looking into his eyes, his right hand still drawing tender lines and small circles beneath her slight shoulders. "Would you like to take the reins now?"

The former mermaid smiled and nodded demurely, shifting back to her right as Eric slid her gently off of his lap and back onto the tooled black leather seat. Ariel brushed some of the speckled raindrops away, smoothing her skirts beneath herself as she did so. As she seated herself, she thought again about all of the other human things she had learned, customs, etiquette, ideas, and habits. Things as simple as basic movements. Thinking of such things made her happy. Only once she seemed comfortable did Eric actually offer her the reins. She smiled at him, and took them into her slender fingers.

Eric looked up now at Carlson, who sat drenched astride his horse now just ten paces away.

"Derek, everything's fine now." Eric began, raising his voice against the wind and pouring rain. "I'm sorry to keep you and your men waiting out here in the weather."

"It's our pleasure, your Highness." the Captain replied without a hint of irony in his voice, then looking back beyond and to the sides of the phaeton, he turned his attentions to his men, "Men, your stations please."

Ariel watched as in neat order the men drew their horses into the same positions in which they had been escorting their carriage earlier. In a way their precision on horseback reminded her of her father's best warriors, how fluidly they moved and with such discipline. These men were the same four soldiers who had been with or around her and Eric for the last two weeks. Privates Jens and Anders she both knew, but was quietly embarrassed that she didn't know the first names of the other two soldiers, Privates Bech and Brandt. From what Eric had told her, just like her people, humans usually had several names.

They reminded her of Apollo, of even Urchin and Flounder; and she liked Private Jens' youthful sense of humor, and Thomsen's dry wit. They seemed … interested in her, they answered her questions, and it was nice to get to know other humans, especially ones whom she felt she could trust and talk to. Aside from Apollo, her father's warriors had never shown such an interest in either her or her explorations.

She smiled as she remembered that she would herself gain a new name, _Oldenburg_ , when she and Eric at last were wed! She wondered what it meant, if like her names and Eric's, that name had any meaning or significance at all. With that thought in mind, Ariel looked over to her fiancé and then back to Captain Carlson, her eyes asking if it was safe to go once again.

"Whenever you're ready your Highness." Carlson replied to her directly, responding seemingly to just her questioning look.

 _"Thank you Captain!"_ she said sweetly, softly, smiling at the officer and then back at Eric. With a gentle snap of the reins she set Trooper into motion once again.

The carriage quickly regained its former speed under the horse's strong pull, a fact quickly attested to by how the raindrops once again began to pelt at her face, wetting both eyelids and eyes. The fullness of her bangs provided some protection against this even though they were damp, and growing ever damper.

Under her guidance the carriage rolled steadily along, its wheels splashing on through puddles and mud, across cobbles and grasses, and was now passing between high hills off to her right and lower hills to her left. Ahead lay a fork in the road, the right branch of which would take them into pretty Christiansted and onward to Printsensbakke.

Though the air about her was filled with falling water, the land beneath it looked nothing like the familiar floor of the sea. Instead of barren rock or sands spotted with floating and swaying plants, the hills were green with trees, tall grasses, and all manner of dense plants the names of which she had yet to learn. There were animals, cows, sheep, and goats, huddling against the rain and chill. The trees and bushes swayed in the wind, catching the rain drops and wicking them to the ground, their normally vivid greens seeming much subdued beneath the cold and rainy skies. There were no birds to be seen. They must not like the cold either.

As they went, the former mermaid listened; listened to the sound of the wind around her in the trees and grasses, to the sound of the falling rain, its drops sharply striking the pools of water on the ground after their long plummet from the clouds up above. The sounds of the surface world, the human world, they never ceased to amaze her, enthrall her, so sharp and clear they were. Ariel marveled at the long streaks and different shades of gray strewn out across the skies above, the low strands and puffs of rain-laden mist that scudded (Eric had told her that was the word) below a sullen ceiling of cloud.

It was beautiful … _so beautiful_ … but _cold._ How had it gotten so _cold_?

"Yes, they are." Eric said flatly, interrupting her thoughts, leaving his words hanging in the air.

To their right Private Lund surged ahead and off to the right to investigate something. Eric's eyes followed with a look of slight concern as the man and his horse disappeared behind them over the embankment. In his absence, Private Thomsen rode forward, placing himself directly between the phaeton and the low earthen ridge.

Ariel looked over to him briefly smiling softly, then back to Eric. " _Are_? _Are what?_ " she asked. Happy to hear his voice again, she wondered worriedly how long she had been distracted, if she had been ignoring him; and hoping that she hadn't.

There was a short silence, just long enough to make Ariel want to ask her question again; but before she could speak Eric playfully jumped back in.

" _Smart_." He paused, smiling at her calmly. " _Horses._ You had asked me if all horses were all as clever as _Trooper_. Not all of them, but most are _very_ intelligent, from what I understand the more so the wilder they are."

"Oh! There are _wild_ horses?" Ariel asked. "Where? Here on the island?"

The Prince was relieved when he saw Private Lund and his mount leap back up over the embankment to rejoin them, trading glances with Captain Carlson, Private Thomsen, and finally Eric himself as he did so. With a single shake of his head he indicated that all was well, that whatever he had chased after had apparently amounted to nothing, then resumed his previous station.

Eric shook his head slightly. "No. Not on Sankt Croix, but there _are_ some in Puerto Rico and Cuba from what I understand, and there are even _more_ of them in America. Derek says that the prairies and lands out beyond the Missouri River have huge herds of them, just roaming across vast open plains."

Sometimes when Eric spoke, the new words and names came so quickly that they simply overwhelmed the former mermaid; so when she heard words that she recognized, they almost acted as familiar safe havens for her sometimes addled mind. She had heard one such word and was about to ask Eric about its meaning when yet another one with which she was unfamiliar caught her attention instead.

 _"Misery?"_ Ariel asked, her voice falling sadly as she unsuccessfully tried to remember what the _other_ word had been. Such a name sounded so sad for _anything_ , let alone something as magnificent as a _river_. As she gently brought Trooper and the carriage about a slight bend in the road, the young princess mused at how often Eric mentioned the Captain as a source of the many things he knew and had learned of the world.

 _"Mizz-ooo-ree."_ Eric corrected her gently as he slipped his arm around her once again, content now that she was herself, and once again comfortable driving. Given that she was a novice, Ariel actually was _quite_ good at it, especially in the way she just seemed to be able to sense what the horse was about to do, or perhaps how the horse was able to sense where _she_ wanted to go, and she didn't even seem to know it.

"It's a large river in the North American west. The United States just purchased the lands along it a few years ago."

 _"Mizz-ooo-ree."_ the young woman repeated, carefully forming each syllable, exactly as Eric had said it, albeit in a voice far fairer, and far lovelier. She smiled when she decided she had gotten the sounds right. "Is it far? What is the _United States_?

Ariel knew the two men were good friends, despite the Captain being many years older than Eric. Their relationship, the more she had observed it since last week, seemed almost brotherly. The Captain had always insisted upon maintaining such _formality_ around her and Eric that she hadn't even been aware he had such a warm and caring side, not until that day two weeks ago at least. How was it possible that she still couldn't clearly remember _so much_ of what had happened on her third day as a human?

Someday soon, she wanted to sneak out in the morning to watch the two men _sparring_ with one another, whatever _that_ meant. From how Eric had described it must mean practicing fighting for whatever reason.

 _"Boys …"_ she sighed to herself, smiling rather wistfully. Ariel found herself amused at her thoughts and all of the strange feelings she had been having. When had she started thinking of _men_ like that? _Human men_! Had it been _after_ she had met Eric? … Certainly not _before_? Once again she found herself thinking of Apollo and Urchin.

"Far? From _here_?" Eric asked, musing at how he could see how his little mermaid had learned to speak such beautiful English. She had an excellent ear for sounds and ability to produce them almost perfectly, and perhaps sometimes even an intuitive sense of what they meant.

"Yes, it is, _thousands and thousands of miles_ ; and the United States, it's a country, the one the Americans come from. It used to be part of England, the British Empire."

For a moment Ariel was caught up in thought, in comprehension. _Alatairë_ , the great Ocean, she knew _it_ to be thousands of miles across, and at least many miles deep; and that knowledge gave her a sense of the immensities to which Eric was referring.

 _"Oh."_ her voice fell. "That sounds really _far_."

Then her mind caught up to everything he had said after the rather depressing "thousands and thousands of miles." He had said _"Americans!"_

Eric could hear the disappointment in her words. It wasn't the first time he had heard that sad tone in the past month and a half he had spent with her. Ariel wanted to _see_ so many things, to _do_ so many things that involved the distant places he told her of. Sometimes he wondered if he could ever possibly fulfill her dreams. Then again, he wanted to _see_ most of those same places too, _do_ most of those same things too, otherwise he wouldn't have known or told her about them, would he?

Some probably weren't very safe for ladies or princesses though, especially beautiful ones like Ariel who happened to have been mermaids for most of their lives. This he thought as he was admiring his young fiancée's eyes as they watched the road and rainy sky ahead, her elegant upturned nose, her high pretty cheekbones and delicate chin.

Eric realized his mind was drifting, badly, and snapped his attention back to their conversation, sighing. He never tired of looking at his love, her beauty and her many expressions. It was like looking into her soul, the one she insisted that she didn't have, the one he could see manifest so clearly in her.

"It _is_. The only reason that I know of it is that Derek talks about it sometimes when we're practicing." Eric paused, troubled by the tone in her voice "Ariel, is there something wrong? You sound … _sad_ again."

She smiled back to him, then lifted her left hand to shield her eyes against a sheet of rain. Eric quickly raised his own left hand above her eyes to let her drive with both hands. "Thank you." she said, smiling at him, wiping the rain from her forehead and eyes before returning her left hand to the reins once again. Having to pull the water from her face and even her hair was so _strange_.

"Are you all right, love?"

"Oh, well yes." Ariel nodded. "It's just that I've always wanted to see a _river_. I've read about them. Is it true that they're like the sea but only move in one direction, like a cu … curr … current?"

"Yes, that's right, but they aren't as deep or as wide as a sea." He paused, thinking. "Though I've heard of some that are so wide at points you can't _see_ across them, like the _Amazon_!"

 _"Really?!"_ Ariel gasped. It wasn't often she heard such excitement in Eric's voice and she wondered why that was. She tried to imagine what an enormous river like the ones he had mentioned might look like. "Then … they _are_ like the sea!? _Those ones_ at least?"

"None of them are close though, love. There are some small, short rivers in Puerto Rico, but here in the islands we just have little brooks and streams. Even the Salt River is really just a glorified lagoon."

"Oh." she replied, then just as quickly continued onto a different but related thought. "What's the _'Ama-zon?'_ " she asked, smiling proudly to herself as she often did when she heard herself produce the same sounds Eric had made.

She looked over lovingly at him, hoping to catch that look of approval and even surprise she sometimes found in his eyes at how good she was becoming at learning new words and names. She was greeted with precisely that, her love's eyes fixed upon hers, an admiring smile on his face as he held her.

She giggled silently. She had gotten it _right!_ Sometimes being a human girl was so amazingly _fun!_

"It's an enormous, immensely _long_ river in Brazil, you remember _Brazil_ right? No one really knows where it, that river I mean, begins, save that it's in the jungle and probably the Andes Mountains far beyond it."

Ariel nodded, remembering finding Brazil together in a book the week before when he and she had been discussing of all things, coins. She thought about the words and names Eric was using, remembering some from things he had shown to and read to her, and wondering what the _Andes Mountains_ were.

Sometimes, she smiled, Eric reminded her of Grimsby when he used long words like "enormous" and "immensely."

"Is it _thousands and thousands_ of miles?" she giggled, a playful look dancing in her eyes, as taking her eyes off the road for a moment she glanced at him, happy to use the same words he had so often with her to characterize the enormous distances of his world, … _her new world_. "Long, I mean?" she added.

Eric nodded, smiling back as he kissed her forehead. "Yes it is. _Eyes on the road love_." The latter part he whispered, gently, and with a loving touch to her hands.

Ariel giggled again, turning her head back and focusing her attention once again on road. She took note of the Captain, still keeping the same distance out ahead of them. She wondered how he was able to do so without looking back at them all the time.

It was so adorable sometimes, how Eric expressed himself, just as though Eric really _was_ Aubrey's own son; which was good because it helped her vocabulary, and Aubrey was such a nice man. Yet another reason not to have been mad at the man she would soon marry.

She wondered how this _"Easter"_ would be, and what it would be like. But her wedding day was not the only thought on her mind.

"And the jungle. It's like a forest?" she continued, shifting her wide, excited eyes back slightly to her love, within whose embrace she warmly and comfortably still sat.

Eric nodded. "Yes, but not a pleasant one, love. Jungles are dangerous."

"They are? _Why?_ " she asked, a soft concern in her words as she leaned a little closer into him, which was hard, actually, given that she was already nestled so close to him.

"Well, the big, deep ones are. They're dark, it's always raining, and they're teeming with deadly animals, vermin, and all sorts of poisonous things." Eric left out the stories he had heard of _cannibals_ , not wanting to scare her more than she already seemed to be; definitely not safe for a lady and a princess. "We have one here on Sankt Croix, did you know that?"

Ariel shook her head to this, thinking, then grinned and cried out happily "We _do!_ _W … where_!?"

Eric smiled, though he really hadn't stopped smiling since they had begun moving once again. For Ariel, the possibility of an adventure or seeing and exploring someplace new always trumped _fear_ , at least at first. He canted his head back and to the left. "It's in the northwest part of the island, but it's just a small one. To be honest love, calling it a 'jungle' is something of an exaggeration."

"Oh! Well, if it's small, is it one of the _safe_ ones? Can we go _see it?_ " she cried excitedly. "Eric, please, will you take me? _Pretty Please_?" she leaned her head back towards his, capturing his eyes with hers just as they were rounding the bend into Christiansted.

Ariel pulled the reins slightly in order to slow Trooper, knowing that much greater care and skill would be required in the town. She looked to Eric, smiling softly, then to the reins.

Returning her smile, he gently took her left hand into his own, but held it only tightly enough to make her feel comfortable. With a little bit of adjustment of how she lay against him and the position of his right arm, he took both of her hands into his own. Thus she continued to drive, with only silent guidance from him when she seemed uncertain of which direction to take them or when she seemed to hesitate when action was needed. With the confusion of streets, horses, and carts it was a harder task than driving down the long and relatively wide Frederiksted road, made easier only by the fact that Captain Carlson was out ahead, leading the way.

 _"Pretty Please!?"_ Eric thought. How was it that Ariel already learned about _"pretty please?"_ Had Carlotta at last taught her every girl's _secret weapon_?!"

Now _that …_ was hardly fair.

Even as it stood Eric could barely resist Ariel begging him for _anything_ (meaning … he couldn't); now that this new qualification was to be added to her requests; and with those _eyes_!

Eric sighed wistfully.

That was it, he was _doomed_ , happily doomed to be sure, but _doomed_ nonetheless.

Alas, such was the price of falling in love with the girl of his dreams, the love of his life and his true love; a girl who just happened to have not long ago … been a _mermaid_.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _Like the last, this chapter is almost purely Ariel and Eric, wherein we're seeing our former little mermaid experiencing her new world more fully than we've yet been able to in my stories._

 _In terms of the timeline, there is much that is hinted at that still has yet to be seen in Sael, and in the even things take a sudden unexpected turn in that story, the events and dialog herein will change as well to maintain both consistency and cohesion._

 _The next chapter, "How to Warm a Little Mermaid's Heart," is well underway, being edited, and with my anticipated effort I hope to have it up by tomorrow or the day after._

 _8\. "The Little Maiden" - An Inverted Lens on Ariel in the Human World_

 _9\. Regarding the Weather (Depictions of Weather and Climate in "Ariel's Isle")_

* * *

 ** _Acknowledgments and Credits:_**

 ** _Cover Art:_** _"The Little Mermaid: The Holiday Treasure Hunt." (Thanks again Converse!)_

 ** _Creative Contributions:_** _I would like to acknowledge the influence on this story of Crisis Rose's many wonderful stories, especially "Broken Strings", "Prince Eric - Parts 1 and 2", and "Keep Holding On"; as well as TardisBlueMermaid's gorgeous "Fallen Angel." Many of the thoughts and themes from these have found a place in "Juletrae." As mentioned previously, "Altered Reality" and "No Ocean's Too Wide" by Converse R Life, "No Words" by Enchanted Mountain, "Out of the Dark" by xSummersx, and "Spring" by LocalSportsTeam have had particular influence on my thoughts and the scenes I have visualized._


	3. Juletræ - How to Warm a Mermaid's Heart

**Author's Note:** _I had originally thought to include this chapter as the conclusion of the last. Doing so though would have produced an inordinately long chapter, and there seemed to be a natural break point in the previous one with Eric considering his happy doom, having fallen under the entirely innocent spell of an entirely innocent, yet completely enchanting, little mermaid._

 _Regarding the thoughts and especially concerns offered in The BritCrit's review of chapter two, I must sadly admit that her observations are valid, and the inclusion of these elements is in fact integral to the underlying concept and design of this and my other stories, which I like to think of collectively as "Ariel's Isle."_

 _As a bit of a spoiler, I just want to assure you that above all of her many virtues, the quality I adore above all others in Ariel is her essential goodness. This is a quality she shares with Eric, and neither of them would countenance presiding over a land founded upon such a wicked institution such as slavery. More importantly, such loving characters are necessarily informed and nurtured by those around them, their loved ones; and this also pertains to my story, giving each of the characters depicted to date substantial depth. I have hinted at and alluded to these factors throughout all of my works, which I intend to form a coherent, integrated whole._

 _I'll have to just ask that you trust me as I tell my tale, wishing me luck in getting it right._

 _ **Publication Date:**_ _Friday, January 1st, 2016_ _(_ ** _Emendations:_** _Saturday, January 2nd, 2016)_

* * *

 **Juletræ**

 **Chapter 3 –** **How to Warm a Mermaid's Heart**

 **~~~ Saturday, the 30th of November, 1805 AD ~~~**

 **~ 4:46 p.m. ~**

 **Christiansborg Palace – Christiansted, Sankt Croix**

"Of course sweetheart." he said, smiling at her. "We'll go when the weather gets better. I'll ask Derek about it when we get back to the palace. How does that sound?"

Ariel nodded, the excitement in her eyes unmistakable. "It sounds _wonderful!_ Thank you Eric!" she cried, wanting to kiss him but knowing that Trooper demanded her full attention, always a difficult requirement for her. She sighed happily, resolving to thank her prince once they returned. Of course she had already intended to do so before their day together had even begun, but throughout had found ever more reasons to more sweetly reward not only his kindness and attention, but the deep happiness he had brought and continued to bring her.

Ahead of them stood Christiansted, with its little haven and its straight, crossing roads. Beyond that stood Printsensbakke, the tall hill which rose up south and east of the town where Christiansted drew closest to Eric's palace. Slender tendrils of gray smoke, far more than she could easily count, rose silently from the many chimneys within the town's ochre walls. Despite the cold, gray light, crosses and steeples glistened over churches as the rainwater ran down from them in thick sheets, streaming down the broad red arched rooves and falling into the streets below.

Passing over the canal on the town's western side and through its broad gate of gray stone, the carriage wound its way along wet cobblestone roads, past the little shops and houses, and beneath the majestic aqueduct into the bymidte. Many of the names for the things she saw and thought of Ariel had already learned, many she would not learn until long after; but the former mermaid would always remember this little trip, and her carriage ride with Eric in the cold, driving rain.

Like the countryside, the princess found that the watery and windswept gray skies had tinted the walled town in much more subdued shades than she was accustomed.

Only a few people were out in the wet streets, most of these being in the market and other open spaces. Given her own discomfort, she suspected that most people were hiding inside warm houses against the unwelcome bitterness in the air; certainly _she_ would have been, and she was grateful for the warmth of Eric's body and enfolding embrace.

As a gust of wind caught her hair, chilling her outstretched arms and fingers, Ariel thought that the heat of the preceding week might have been preferable … had it not stricken her down so terrifyingly.

Slightly before and behind the carriage rode their escort, Privates Jens and Anders on their right, Privates Bech and Brandt on their left. Ariel could just imagine, almost feel, how cold they and their horses _must_ be, but despite their obvious wetness and exposure to the wind and blowing rain, they kept pace with the carriage, never falling behind or away, never ceasing to peer back and forth along the road and into the many side streets and alleys they passed by, never failing to peer into any place she guessed the men worried a threat might arise.

Ahead of them, but not as far as beforehand, rode Captain Carlson, whom she was following, more or less. Despite having danced with her on her birthday and what he had told her the day before about what had happened on her third day of life as a human girl, he had kept a distance, not speaking to her unless she first spoke to him. It bothered her, adding sustenance to her lingering fear that for some reason he didn't like her. Still, he too never failed to look after her.

Before her birthday she might have chafed at having such a guard put on her, but everything had since changed, and she didn't entirely understand _why_. It helped that the men were kind and friendly, each in their own way, but now after _Henrik_ , she was ashamed to admit that she was _afraid_. She didn't want to talk to Eric about it, simply because she worried he might think she was regretting her choice of becoming human, of regretting him; and she wasn't.

Even though she had hope of winning Henrik's acceptance, she knew there were others, _must_ be others, who felt the same way given what Carlson had told her, or others even _more_ hostile to her, if that were even possible. She didn't know this world like she had her old one, and even that she hadn't known _very_ well, not like her father, or Archimedes, or Apollo, or even Urchin. In fact, her desire to learn more about the world around her was what had driven her explorations in the first place.

For the first time in her life, she found that knowing others were watching over her while she slept actually _helped_ her sleep at night. Such a lingering fear had never been a complication she had expected before entering the human world; instead, she had imagined only its countless wonders. When they returned to the palace, she decided that she ought to thank the four men and the Captain too.

Eric had been quiet, simply guiding her hands and fingers with slight movements of his own, freeing them only to point out when to turn into the next street or in which way to direct Trooper. Each time, his hands returned calmly to take hers back into them, girdling both palms and fingers and imparting to them such a welcome warmth.

Eric was quiet because he was happy. His love lay in his arms safely against him, a little damp but not wet, a little cold but not freezing, and she felt so warm to him, smelled so wonderful to him. Her every little move to him seemed so … beautiful; when she was confident and daring, when she was uncertain and shy, he loved her either way.

Holding her closely thus as they rode together was an opportunity to experience her _feeling_ , her _thinking_ , these betrayed to him by the little nuanced expressions of her delicate wrists, hands, and fingers. Even in this way, she had so much to say to him. He wondered if she knew.

Had he kissed her that night in the lagoon weeks ago, had she never regained her lovely voice, he would have loved her nonetheless. The language of their love would have been different, but all the things they would have done, all the feelings which they would have shared … they would have been just as deep.

It seemed to Ariel that though he was silent, Eric was _speaking_ to _her_ , saying little things no words alone could ever say; just as she had spoken to him, or had tried to their first time together in this lovely place. Just a gentle squeeze, a caress of the back of her hand, a slight tug, a little nudge, his wrapping her hand and fingers in his own when he thought that hers might be cold, which of course they were.

And she, in turn, spoke back to him, with her smile, by letting her delicate fingers play with and caress his, by laying herself contentedly into and against him, her head nestled just beneath his own and against his neck.

As they passed through the pretty bymidte she watched how ahead of them Captain Carlson took the low fountain to his right as he rode. It was so pretty in the rain, she thought, noticing how its waters burbled forth, how they danced and splashed beneath the falling rain, and how driven by the gusting winds they sloshed and broke over its low stone walls.

As Eric watched, keeping Ariel's hands warm in his own, feeling her little directions to Trooper through the reins, he began to understand that there was a conversation going on between her and the trusty horse. The stallion would cant his head, pulling slightly at the rein, as though he knew where he wanted to go, and if Ariel disagreed, she would gently pull the reins back the other way. Trooper did nothing _of the sort_ with Eric, as a good a horse as he was! For a moment he was completely fascin …

Ten yards ahead of them an ox-cart burst noisily out of a street into the bymidte between the phaeton and Derek Carlson. Both of the forward riders veered off sharply and halted their horses. Eric felt the reins slacken slightly as Trooper indicated his desire to slow, with not just a little alarm radiating from the horse. Out of the corner of his eye, Eric saw that Ariel's eyes were turned slightly away from the town square ahead of her, looking instead toward the fountain.

Against her fingers Ariel felt a gentle tug as Eric pulled the reins taut, bringing Trooper and the carriage to a stop.

To her surprise and alarm, an animal pulling a large cart and an old man had just emerged from a street ahead unseen by her and was passing directly in front of them. Immediately, she realized that had Eric not intervened, she would have struck man and beast headlong. The old man looked up at them, then at _her_ , his bushy gray eyebrows narrowing as an accusing look flared in his eyes.

 _"Watch where you're driving that thing girl! What are you doing at the reins anyway!?" That's your man's jo …"_

Ariel quickly lowered her eyes and head feeling her throat tightening as she resolved to herself not to cry, not to cry even though she felt so terribly embarrassed and incompetent.

Their four outriders quickly drew back in around the carriage as a sharp hissing ring sang out from behind the oxcart followed by a softer clicking noise, but one Ariel's keen ears distinctly heard. Behind the man from out of the rain loomed Carlson, blade drawn and pistol at the ready, pointed at her accuser's head. Even in the gloom, the sword seemed to catch the light about it.

 _"Watch your tongue sir."_ Carlson threatened, glancing first to Ariel and Eric, then surveying the bymidte. _"Have you any idea to whom you're speaking?"_

Looking back, the carter slowly raised his hands, finally beginning to realize upon whose procession he had intruded, and at whom he had yelled, and that _she_ hadn't been the one at the reins. Moreover, he was quite aware that he shouldn't have entered the bymidte without looking first for oncoming traffic.

Finally, the man's eyes focused back instead on Eric, whereupon his earlier accusing look evaporated. He quickly stepped to the side and bowed. "Your Highnesses." he said, then pulled the cart out of their path. "Please excuse my hasty words."

Eric simply nodded quietly in reply, at which the man goaded his ox and cart along into the square, then across the north limb of the fountain.

Rain spattered in the background as sheets of water poured from the surrounding rooves and eaves of houses and buildings.

Before them, Carlson looked about the otherwise now empty bymidte and then back to Eric.

"He seemed innocent enough your Highness. We're ready to move along when you and the Princess are."

"Thank you Captain. We'll be just a minute I think." Eric replied quietly.

Nodding and bringing his blade to salute the prince, the officer turned his stallion and trotted out about five paces ahead of them while he holstered his pistol beneath its oilskin cover. His sword, however, he left unsheathed.

Ariel sat there quietly, upset and shaking slightly, but not from the cold.

 _"Hey."_ came a soft voice, not a whisper. "It's all right love." he said, tightening his embrace around her. "Now, don't be sad, you're _learning_. These things take _time,_ and this is only your second." he said, his eyes lost momentarily in memory.

With his curled left forefinger he gently lifted Ariel's chin, causing her to slowly open her eyes. His head was tilted slightly forward, turned toward hers, his eyes looking into hers. Despite what she had feared, there wasn't a scolding look in his eyes, nor one of disdain, nor reproof. Instead she saw just that part of his smile that always shone and glistened within his eyes.

Slowly, he brought his lips to her forehead, causing her to close her own eyes, reflexively, modestly, as she felt her future husband kiss away the raindrops from her brow, then gently pull back from her.

"It's all right love; _it is_. There are just _so many_ things you have to learn to watch for, and I know you have so much on your mind, so many things you want to see. It's just going to take time and practice. I'm here for you through all of it though, _right here_."

"But I almost _hit_ them." she sniffed as Eric drew a little farther back from her to look her in the eyes once again.

"Well you _didn't_ , and you won't in the _future_ either. You're already driving well Ariel, and I think Trooper loves you. I can tell. _Don't you boy_?"

The horse didn't answer of course, save to pull the reins taut in their interwoven fingers. Ariel could just feel how the pretty and brave horse wanted to be moving again, and wondered if he liked _her_ guiding him as Eric had said. She hoped that he did. She certainly liked _him_.

"I think that _might_ be a vote of confidence, how about you?" Eric asked her, gently squeezing her hands in his own.

A slightly embarrassed smile spread across her face.

"Ready to go then?"

The former mermaid smiled softly and nodded, giving the reins a little snap, setting Trooper into motion.

As she took them out along the bridge over the little inlet and out through the East Gate, she felt Eric lean over her, placing yet another kiss atop her head, all the while keeping her held warmly in his arms. Ariel couldn't help but smile. It made her feel so happy and loved when he did so; and the rain seemed to be lessening somewhat; well, a little … hopefully.

In the distance beyond the low Altona lagoon stood the Christiansborg, its three tallest towers adorned by pennants long and pale that streamed and coiled in the wind. The thick outer walls of the palace caught the wind and rain, spilling gusts upward like storm-driven waves, the fine spray to be seen as they crested and broke upon the high battlements and crenellations. From the palace's many chimneys rose long, thin columns of smoke, quickly drawn out and pulled apart by the winds, while out upon Prince Frederick's bay, the seas wroth with the storm rode greenish white, surging and frothing, spewing their wind spun foam into the landward airs.

Upon seeing this, a part of Ariel's mind thought of home, out there beyond and below the wild surf and the mounting green seas. Her terrible homesickness had lessened greatly now, knowing now that she would see her father, sisters, and friends more often as a human than she had ever had dreamt she might.

Smiling softly, her thoughts returned to their earlier conversation.

 _"Americans."_

 _That_ had been the word she had heard Eric say, the one she had lost. Well, he had said _America_ too, hadn't he? These were words, names actually, that she had known _even_ when she had been a mermaid, _especially_ when she had been a mermaid.

 _"Americans."_ she said softly, almost as though to herself, then she continued, this time to Eric, her voice betraying more than a little excitement now. "Eric, what are … _Americans_?"

Eric smiled, wondering what had suddenly excited his fiancée so. "Well, they're people from the United States, a country to the north of us. Most people just call the people from the United States that, but there are other people from the Americas too, like us."

"Like _us_?" Ariel asked, trying to keep her eyes on the road ahead and Trooper when every bit of her being instead wanted to look at Eric. Oddly, given her previous enthusiasm for the reins, she wished that Eric were now driving so that she could look at him as he answered her questions. With a quick withdrawal of her hands into her cloak, she quickly left him with the reins, giving him her full attention.

Eric laughed as he took the reins after a moment of surprise, and couldn't help having his breath taken away by the imploring look Ariel gave him as she sat, nestling cozily against him, her head turned up and back toward his, her eyes now fixed upon his.

"Well," he chuckled. "I suppose that we should all be called 'Americans' and probably would be had the name not already been taken. Just so you know, the people to the north of the United States are still British, those to the west and south of it are Spanish, and those from the islands around us here in the Caribbean are a mixture. Many islands here have more than one nationality. Oh, and the people from South America, they're Spanish too, and Portuguese."

Ariel thought about everything he was telling her. It seemed like a lot to apprehend. She had read about Britain and England but didn't understand the difference between the two save that they were somehow related but not quite the same. Likewise, she knew of Spain, France, and America because of books she and Archimedes had studied. What she really didn't know was anything _about_ those human realms, what they were like simply beyond their names and in some cases, locations.

One thing that she _did_ know though was that Inwilya was the native language of _England_ , and for that one reason alone, England was her _favorite_! Most of her favorite books and things had come from England, even though few things of human paper long resisted the touch of the sea. England, sadly, she knew to lie far across the great oceanic wilderness, beyond the most populous northern provinces of her father's kingdom, not just beyond Atalantë proper.

Then a _thought_ occurred to her, and being the way she was, a thought in Ariel's mind was often never far from her lips. "Eric. What's an e …empire?" As she said the word, she watched his expression to see if she had pronounced it correctly, which she was almost certain she had, being able to still hear how Eric had pronounced it a while ago. She was happy when she saw in his eyes that she had.

"An _empire_?" He smiled at her as they approached the gates to the Christiansborg. Down the road ahead of them, Carlson was signaling the gate guards. After a moment the tall wooden gates began to swing open inward.

From the Southwest Tower he could now make out a faint ringing, one that grew stronger as the wind shifted slightly in their direction. Soon the whole Palace would know of his and Ariel's return. Hopefully Carlotta would have something warm for Ariel to drink, and maybe a hot bath and later a warm dry gown for her to slip into. Despite his best efforts, there was only so much he could do with body and cloak to keep his little mermaid comfortable against this sort of unnaturally cold wind and rain.

"Well," he continued, "an _empire_ is a collection of countries and colonies, usually ruled by the king of the most powerful country."

"They all have one king, all of the countries in an empire?"

Ahead of them, Derek Carlson turned his stallion, stationing himself before the easternmost tower of the gatehouse barbican and stood there, waiting for the prince and his princess to pass.

"Yes and no, each country might have a king, but the most powerful king is also called an emperor or an empress _because_ he or she rules more than just one country." He stopped, searching for an example that might make things clearer for her, other than that of his own kingdom, of course. There was no sense in bringing that subject up now. He would sometime later. "And some countries like Britain and Spain have just one King ruling over all of their possessions."

"As a matter of fact, from what you've told me, your father might be considered an emperor because he rules over many different regions and realms of your people."

"Oh!" she replied, still lost somewhat in thought. "I think I understand now, like a _Tararan_ , but wait. Girls can rule over empires _too!_? There can be empresses? Can queens rule over _queendoms_!?"

"Yes, in some empires." Eric had noted the word Ariel had used, but decided to ask her about it later, being more interested in answering her questions. "Spain and Great Britain have both had ruling queens, empresses, but it's not allowed in other countries. They're still called _kingdoms_ though, or just _realms_."

Why a realm ruled over by a queen would still be called a 'kingdom' was confusing to the former mermaid, but of interest because it pertained to a dilemma her father and family had faced since her mother Athena had died. Unless the lesser kings accepted Attina as successor, nearly an impossibility, having no male heir would eventually doom their dynasty to extinction; and at the very least, dispossession.

"And there's an English … I mean a _British_ one … an _empire_? You mentioned a _British_ one earlier."

Ariel looked up, surprised as they passed beneath the tall gates and battlements of the outer walls. _"Oh!"_ she cried, _"We're home!"_

"Yes, there … most certainly _is_." Eric replied somewhat darkly, though because of her excitement, this nuance was lost upon his young lady. He quickly regained his thoughts. "And yes _love_ we … most certainly are."

Eric had to suppress a smug grin at his alliteration … or rhyming … or whatever rhetorical technique he had just cleverly used. He couldn't remember the name for it, and sincerely hoped that there was one. Wait! _Parallelism!_ That was it!

"The British Empire, is it part of _Eng … England!?_ " Ariel continued excitedly, quite conscious that she was pronouncing the word to a human for the very first time, and resisted the urge to call the country instead by its _Eärya_ name, _Inwilan,_ as she habitually did.

As they entered the courtyard, there standing beneath the sheltering eaves of the Grand Entrance they saw both Carlotta Grimaldi and Aubrey Beauclerk nestled amidst a quartet of the Household Guard that fanned out around the phaeton as soon as it began to slow. At their fore was the unmistakable silhouette of the Christiansborg's own household Goliath, Sergeant Rudolph Lundgren.

Eric drew the reins in and brought Trooper to a halt as his men surrounded them. Corporal Holm stepped forward, offering him a furled parasol, which the prince took with a thankful nod. Turning to his fiancée he spread it open and with his left hand lifted it above her.

Ariel giggled softly, delighted and rather amused that she, who just two months ago had been a resilient if admittedly rather small, mermaid, should be so troubled by a few falling drops of water. It was the oddest thing, that as a human in a rain this cold, she really did _not_ want to get _wet._

Thinking about it, even as a mermaid she probably wouldn't have liked water so cold. Being human though, sometimes it just made things so, _different_.

"Actually, England is the _most powerful_ country _in_ the British Empire." Eric replied quietly, continuing their conversation as he stood, and trying to speak factually and objectively rather than from his strong feelings on the matter. Stepping down from his side of the phaeton, he quickly slipped around its canopied back, coming around then to Ariel's right. "It's the wealthiest and most populous of all the British countries and colonies." he continued.

Without his warmth at her side, Ariel immediately felt the wind's cold bite once again. She wrapped her arms around herself as she too started to stand. Fortunately, it was mere seconds before Eric was again at her side, offering her his hand before she realized he was even there. She took it of course.

"Careful love, the step is wet. Remember, being wet makes things slippery."

Two weeks ago she might have giggled at Eric for helping her down a single stair, but after _that_ day with Hendrick, it no longer seemed so humorous, or _safe_. Ariel looked down at the glistening wet tread of the step and nodded. She knew what that _shimmer_ meant, as she had seen wet ice before and remembered how slick it was. Given her now justifiable and growing fear of falling, Ariel took the narrow step with care, holding onto Eric's hand as though her life depended upon it and being sure to feel her slight weight firmly alight on it through the insoles and heels of the dark green pumps she wore.

It occurred to her that perhaps the flats she often wore might have been a better choice that morning, but she had wanted to look her prettiest for Eric and these particular shoes were among her favorites. Still, save for the weather, the day had gone perfectly; she hadn't fallen, slipped, or even stumbled, not once; an accomplishment of which she was very proud. She wondered if _Eric_ had noticed.

Stepping down onto the wet grass, Ariel breathed a sigh of relief once she felt both of her feet firmly upon the ground. A stroke of panic shot through her as she felt her heels sink into the wet packed earth and grass beneath her, and she felt herself momentarily unable to move.

 _"Oh!"_ she gasped, forcing a smile as she looked back at her prince, but it became more genuine as she realized that she wasn't going to fall, and as she felt Eric's arm once again wrap about her waist. Not wanting to seem as unnerved as she actually was, the erstwhile mermaid tested her legs, noting how they still felt firm beneath her and under her full control.

Holding the parasol outstretched above her, he moved to also place his much larger body between hers and the raw wind and rain. "Come along sweetheart. Let's get you inside and warm you up." He smiled back at her as he drew her along, shepherding her over the twenty paces to the waiting Carlotta and Grimsby.

With a slight pull the girl felt the mud release her stuck shoes, though she had to almost walk on her toes to keep herself from sinking in again as Eric drew her across the courtyard. As he did, her mind turned back to the conversation she had been having with him.

So _that_ was the relationship between the _England_ and _Britain!_ Even though she had been with Eric more than a month, she still had _so many_ unanswered questions, and they sometimes, no, _oftentimes_ , came to her as she and he spoke and spent time with one another. Sometimes, she mused to herself, Eric was just like a human book, albeit one that talked back to her … he knew _so much!_

"Do they all speak _English_ in the British Empire?" she asked, remembering how Eric had said the word so that she too pronounced it correctly.

After a moment of surprise, realizing and impressed that Ariel was continuing their earlier conversation, Eric replied. "Yes, but also Welsh and Gaelic in Wales, Scotland and Ireland."

Ariel found herself thinking about this. The people in England spoke _Inwilya_ , but so did the other people in the British _Empire_ , causing her to wonder how large that empire was. But there were _other_ languages too, languages of which she had never heard. She felt slightly disappointed, even upset at this, worrying that her original assumption might have been wrong. Nonetheless, she took a chance and asked.

"Eric, if the _United States_ used to be part of the _British_ Empire, and that's almost the same as _England_ , do the Americans speak Inw … English … too?"

"Oh _good heavens_ child! _Eric!_ She must be soaked to the bone!" Carlotta cried out. "And you too Eric! You two must be _freezing!_ "

Eric blanched, though it would have been hard to tell that he had given his already half-frozen face and the chill that had crept into him. He imagined that Ariel could hardly be any better than he was and was quite glad that Carlotta was there for her. "I'm sorry Lottie, I did the best that I could. I just can't believe this rain, and the cold! Have you ever seen anything like it, Grim?"

"I cannot say that I have, not in these waters." answered Beauclerk. "It is most frightful weather indeed my boy. And, how is our young lady?" he smiled, taking the parasol from Eric as the four passed under the eaves of the palace.

Twin white doors stood open before them. In the room beyond stood two maids.

"Oh, I'm fine Aubrey! A little cold, but Eric kept me warm. We had such a _nice_ time. I saw the piglets again, and the puppies, though I couldn't find some of them. Oh! And there was a _new foal!_ It was _so beautiful!"_ Ariel cried in delight, emphasizing the last two words before she hugged the elder Lord. _"I'm so happy!"_

As the girl wrapped her arms around him, he smiled at the unexpected display of affection, returning her embrace and patting her gently on the back. "Indeed, my dear." the older gentleman drolled, smiling slyly at Eric and then Carlotta as he did so. "I am quite certain that he _did_."

"You poor dear." the maid interjected, pulling Ariel away from Grimsby and Eric, taking her hands into her own. _"Oh my!"_ she cried. "Your hands are like _ice_! Honey, you must be _so_ cold; and you too Eric! Now both of you, come inside here, right this instant!"

"Fortunately, we have every hearth we could find in the palace alight, and warm baths being drawn for the both of you." Grimsby noted dryly as he stepped aside.

Now shared between the three, Ariel realized that she had forgotten to _do_ something very important to her that she had promised herself she would. Two somethings to be precise. Well … three.

 _"Wait!"_ she cried.

"Ariel, what …" Eric began before Ariel turned and smiled sweetly to him, wrapping him in a moment's hug.

"It's all right Eric, I almost _forgot_ something!" she exclaimed, turning back to the large portico and darting back out onto the grass.

Eric would have followed, had he not felt Grimsby's hand gently catch his elbow, holding him back. The young prince looked back at his minister.

Grimsby simply smiled. "Let her, my boy …" he replied to Eric's unvoiced question.

Confused, Eric turned his head back to watch his fiancée in whatever task she had appointed for herself.

Looking out across the courtyard, Ariel quickly found what she had sought. Beneath the eaves of the stables were gathered Carlson and the four men who had escorted her, along with Sergeant Lundgren, Corporal Holm, and several other soldiers of the Guard. Lifting the hem of her skirts above her ankles against the pooled rainwater, Ariel dashed out again back into the rain and across the wet courtyard, slowing slightly when she felt her shoes begin to catch in the mud beneath her, reminding her to take care in her steps. And she did.

 _"Captain!"_

At the sound of her voice the Captain and his men looked over to her, and as she approached the officer doffed his tall shako hat.

 _"Men, hats off for the Princess_." whispered Lundgren, whereupon the eight soldiers quickly followed their Captain's example.

The princess's small wet footfalls were all to be heard as she approached the group of silent men, a smile spreading across her face, now dripping from the rain. None of the men knew what to do, though Carlson allowed his gaze to drift across the courtyard back to find Eric, Lord Grimsby, and Mistress Carlotta, just standing, watching the young maiden approach them.

With a brush of her hand she stepped under the eaves and swept her drenched crimson bangs from her eyes. "I just wanted to _thank you_!" she said, looking from Jens to Bech, then to Thomsen and Brandt and then the rest of the men. Looking to the Corporal and the Sergeant, she pulled Eric's wet woolen cloak around her, and then smiled up at the Captain. "… for watching after me and Eric. I'm so sorry, I know you have to all be at least as wet and as cold as I am, and I felt bad for you out in the rain."

There was a momentary silence, after which Carlson spoke. "Princess, I assure you, it is the pleasure of each man here to be your escort, no matter the weather, no matter the circumstance."

To this the young woman blushed, ducking her head slightly in obvious embarrassment. "I still appreciate it, _both_ of us do." she offered, looking back over her shoulder to Eric, who smiled at her and nodded his head in silent approval. Did he know what she was saying to his men, or was he simply encouraging her to do what her heart and mind asked?

"If you don't mind me saying so sir," interrupted Sergeant Lundgren in his bass but uncommonly cultured voice, "… just a reminder that if the _Princess_ would like to further express her _appreciation_ , there is sure to be some fine fiddling to be heard and dancing to be had in the common room after the start of the first watch tomorrow night. Both she and the Prince are welcome to join us of course."

Both Carlson and the young princess, the latter of whom who stood quite obviously shivering before him despite being draped in the Prince's now soaking wet cloak, seemed surprised at the man's interjection, but its effect was to merely make the girl's smile grow even wider, and her eyes even happier; if that were possible.

Ariel looked up to the giant of a man who like no other she had seen reminded her in sheer size of both Henrik Knudsen and her father, and then to Captain Carlson, smiling. "Oh! I would _love_ to! May I? May _we_?" she asked happily, looking back over her shoulder to Eric. "It was so _much fun_ the last time!"

With a pause, Carlson looked at his Sergeant and returned the maiden's smile. "Of course Princess, but the invitation is not _mine_ to give, but rather the _men's; a_ nd it seems to have been given." he concluded, looking back to Lundgren.

The girl smiled and blushed, looking to Carlson and then the other men. "Thank you Sergeant." It was an odd feeling to feel her face turning so warm while the rest of her body was still so cold.

"Is … Trooper … already inside?" she asked, looking to the stable doors and peeking in between them.

"Why _yes,_ princess," Carlson replied. "Is there a reason you ask?"

She nodded sweetly, "May I see him?

Carlson looked to the Sergeant, who turned and swung both large doors open for the girl.

Still smiling, the young princess slipped through the doors. The interior of the stable held twelve spacious stalls, evenly spread along the two sides of an open center walkway. Beneath them lay a floor of packed earth from which a thick layer of fresh yellow straw lent an earthy air to the place. From the far unseen corner came a snapping, crackling sound. Though it was darker inside, the air in here much felt warmer, causing Ariel to wonder if that was because of the fire that she heard or merely because she was now sheltered from the outside wind and rain.

In eight of the stalls stood horses, Trooper being in the second closest to the right of the door. Over the rail beside him hung a thick woolen blanket while on the straw below sat twin wooden pails, one filled with oats, the other fresh water. At the horse's side brushing him down was one of the stable boys, Thomas Hawke.

At Ariel's approach, Tom started, doing his best to stand at some sort of attention or whatever gesture of respect was appropriate when one was in the presence of a princess, and a beautiful one especially, and one who had been a mermaid just weeks ago, as anyone the Prince trusted to keep her secret now knew.

"Hello Master Tom!" Ariel smiled sweetly at the boy, taking care to address him in the manner especially respectful to young boys, or so Carlotta had told her. She liked practicing her new human manners and etiquette, thereby getting to know as many new humans as possible. "How is he?"

Hearing the Princess use his first name in that lovely voice of hers, which Tom rather liked along with the princess herself, the young lad smiled. "Oh, he'll be _fit and full_ soon enough Milady, umm, Princess."

Ariel smiled at the boy, "I just wanted to see that he was all right and being taken care of." she offered innocently.

Then, leaning over to the cold, wet horse, she began to stroke his sleek dark head and long neck, looking into his eyes as she began to speak to him, _"Hello Trooper,"_ she cooed, letting her small hands caress his neck and behind his ears, " _… you were so brave out in the rain with us and with that mean man and his cart and whatever was pulling it. Thank you for keeping us safe."_

The horse twitched his ears back in approval at the sound of her voice and nuzzled the former mermaid as her gentle caresses and scratches ended with a warm, soft embrace around his neck.

"I'll come back to see you again before I go to bed, _I promise!_ " she ended.

"He's ready for his cover Princess." Tom said, lifting the blanket from the rail. To Tom's surprise, she took the opposite end of it, looking up at him and smiling. "Master Tom, when no one's looking, please call me _Ariel_ , just like you call Eric _"Eric"_ when no one's looking." She giggled as she took the blanket in hand and helped him draw and drape it over the horse.

Tom didn't quite know what to make of this. One didn't just call a princess and the daughter of the King of the Seas by her _first name_ … did one? Was _Ariel_ her _first name_? If so, what was her _last name_? Did she even _have_ a last name?

 _"Now you'll be warm sweetie."_ she said, cooing to Trooper just a little more while planting a kiss on the horse's nose and picking up a handful of oats for him to eat from the left pail.

The horse munched happily away on the offered handful.

As Tom listened and watched, he couldn't help but think how the other steeds in the stable had reason to be greatly jealous of Trooper. Why, he himself was, to see the young beauty giving the stallion such love and care.

As she stood there, it occurred to Ariel that a warm blanket would feel good on her too as she felt the chill working its way into her now, despite the relative warmth of the stable.

"Thank you Master Tom. I have to go! Try to keep w … warm, _all right_?" she asked looking at him and then Trooper. " _Both_ of you, _p … please_?"

"I'll be fine Princess, not to worry about me!" Tom smiled back, blushing rather obviously. "There are two hearths, here and there." he said, pointing to the fireplaces at the opposite corners of the stable. "I'll get a better blaze going in each and Trooper and the other horses will be just fine. But it sounds as though you need to go get yourself warmed up pretty soon, if you don't mind me saying so."

Ariel nodded, lowering her eyes slightly as she smiled at the boy, "T … thank you Master Tom, b … but, I'll be al … all right."

From the sound of the growing tremor in her voice and the sight of her shivering, Tom wasn't quite sure she _would_ be all right though, and was half inclined to wrap one of his own blankets around her, princess or not.

Before he could, though, she turned quickly toward the doors and started back on her way out, only to stop at the sight of several soldiers looking at her. Ariel didn't know what to think, with so many eyes on her. They weren't bad looks, but rather pleasant ones, like they were almost in awe of what they were looking at, and they were looking … at her. It made her feel nice … and made her blush furiously as well.

As soon as she stopped and began to blush, Privates Jens and Anders drew back along with the other three, striking their positions of attention again along the doors, their eyes caged forward as they had been before.

As Ariel emerged from the stable, she looked up at each of the soldiers, Sergeant Lundgren, and Captain Carlson, each of whom had been apparently waiting quietly for her, also looking on perhaps. She ducked her head and felt a little odd for some reason she didn't quite understand, struck by a thought that unlike Henrik Knudsen, so far at least, these men seemed to actually _like_ her … and wanted her to be a part of their world.

Smiling softly then, Ariel turned and fairly skipped back across the muddy courtyard. As she neared the far portico, she whirled quickly about and raising her right hand at the elbow waved her fingers to them as the rain continued to fall in a soft drizzling mist about her. " _B … bye by … bye!_ Th … thank you a … again." she said, loud enough to be heard by the men just above the rain before she felt Eric's arms wrap around her slender, shivering frame, this time draping a warm thick woolen blanket around her.

"Eric, bring _her_ in here!" Carlotta said from beneath the portico eaves. "She'll catch her _death_ out there in that rain! The _both_ of you will!"

"Oh Er … eric! They in … vited us to come and … _dance_ with them to … tomo … rrow!" she said, looking up at him excitedly as she shook within his arms, as he brought her past the open double doors and into the Grand Foyer where Carlotta, Grimsby and one of the two maids still stood, having watched everything that had transpired.

Eric chuckled, "Well, _this time_ I'm definitely _going_ with you." He paused. "Here she is Lottie, cold and wet, but well I think." He smiled, then turning to his fiancée continued. "So, what was that little visit all about?"

Ariel smiled, wiping her bangs away from her eyes and the cold water from her face. "I j … just wanted to th … thank them for ta … king care of us; mostly _… me_ , I … I m … mean. Troo … per too." she replied, looking to Eric for some sign of approval.

And of course it was there, in his eyes, in the way he took her back into his warm embrace and kissed her softly upon her lips as she, following his example, slipped her arms around him. So they stood, heedless of servants and soldiers, Carlotta and Grimsby, caught up in each other's arms, caught up in a kiss both deep and passionate, until at last he parted his lips slowly from hers and they both opened their eyes.

Ariel was glad for the warmth of his embrace, in more ways than one.

 _"You're wonderful Ariel, do you know that?"_ he whispered.

To which she could only smile, shaking her head softly as she lowered her eyes, being at just a little loss for words, and wondering why he had said so. She was really feeling the cold now and her whole body was shaking.

 _"I love you."_ he said, whispering again, and after a second's pause continued. _"And Carlotta has a nice hot bath and warm, dry clothes waiting for you upstairs."_

 _"I love y … you too."_ she replied shyly, thinking to herself how nice a hot bath and something warm to wear would feel. "Will I s … see you for din … dinner then?" she asked hopefully, smiling, feeling slight pangs of hunger and thirst along with the chill now biting into her. "You pr … promised." she smiled.

 _"Of course."_

She had known, or thought she had known, what the answer would be, but merely desired the comfort that it provided, the surety that she would see Eric again soon.

"Come along dear. Let's get you warm and dry again." Carlotta entreated, taking the girl gently from Eric's arms.

As the Housekeeper drew the young princess into the Foyer, Grimsby and Eric followed. Eric looked over with a hopeful and questioning look on his face, to which the older man replied with his characteristic thin wry smile and a discrete nod of his head. An expectant smile slowly spread across Eric's countenance as his eyes turned to study his fiancée just ahead of them.

Ariel immediately felt the dryness of the white marble Grand Foyer around her, albeit not much warmth, as its outer doors had been open so long awaiting her and Eric. As Grimsby had said, fires burned in each fire place, each hearth. Candles had been lit against the gloom and they too burned, filling the room with a sweet waxy scent. It made her realize again how cold she was.

As they walked, Carlotta could feel the young woman still shivering beneath the thick and now somewhat damp woolen blanket. It would be a few minutes still before they reached her room and the Housekeeper was sure that Eric would want to see his princess up the stairs to her room, especially given Eric's new living arrangements … and Ariel's recent walking difficulties.

And of course, there was likely to be a, _delay,_ getting her to her warm room.

"So honey," she began, taking her little girl's hand "Tell me about your day. I heard you telling Aubrey something about piglets, puppies, and horses. Was it the same as on your birthday?"

"Oh, Car … lotta, it was _w … wo … wonderful!"_ the girl shivered dreamily as she pulled the woolen blanket tighter around herself. Blankets weren't as warm as Eric was however, and now that her excitement had somewhat subsided, she was feeling how very wet and cold she was, having crossed twice through the frigid wind and pouring rain to thank the Guardsmen and Trooper.

"It was so p … pr … etty out when we left this m … mor … ning, C … Carlotta! Eric let me drive Troo … per and the c ... arr .. .iage most of the way once we left. We stopped to look at a wi … wind … mill on top of a hill, and then walked in … in the fields. The sky was such a pretty blue, with long wh … white clouds like …" she paused for a moment, trying to think of something comparable in her experiences. "…like _s … sea ... seaf … oam!_ "

"Oh, that sounds lovely dear." the Housekeeper replied, trying to hide her concern for how much worse the girl was beginning to sound now that she was truly suffering from exposure. "I do wish the weather had stayed nice out all day long and not spoiled your trip." Carlotta was beginning to wonder if their little diversion for the girl was a good idea after all, rather than taking her straight into the warm bath waiting for her. She wondered if Eric was faring as poorly.

The girl sighed, "S … so … do … I." she said, agreeing with the Housekeeper while wondering what she should talk about next. Fortunately, even when soaking wet and cold, words about her experiences were never far from Ariel's mind.

"This time though … we got to go into Fred … erik … sted and s … see all of the s … shops, and there were so many boa ... I mean _s … sh … hips_ out on the water. We had ap … ple juice and …" she paused, trying to remember the name, _"vee … veener … broed!"_ she smiled, looking back at Eric to see if she had gotten the word right.

Following behind her, Eric watched as his beloved walked with Carlotta, listening to her voice and how she spoke of her day, the sounds not just of her words, but her emotions and feelings. A gentle warmth kindled in his heart despite her shivering and halting voice, hearing how she had experienced the day he had given her with such joy, and when she looked back at him, a beautiful smile gracing her pale face, his heart nearly melted.

It was all that he could do to simply nod that she had pronounced the word for the traditional Danish pastry correctly and not catch her up in his arms and make her warm again. Some day he thought, she would speak _his_ tongue as beautifully as she spoke English, and maybe … he would speak hers too, so that he could tell her in the language closest to her heart ... _that he loved her_.

Delighted that she had gotten the word right, Ariel ducked her head at the loving look she had brought to Eric's face and turned shyly back to Carlotta.

"But the s … shops were op … en today, so we were able to go in and …. and see s … so many th … ings. Eric told me all about c … clocks, and c … candle making, and how hu … mans make met … al things like t … tools, and horse … horseshoes."

The girl lowered her eyes slightly, her already soft voice growing even softer and quieter. "… and he g … g … gave me … _flo … wers."_

She paused and slowed, looking slightly panicked, starting to turn. "Oh n … no! Eric, I … I have to g … go back and get the b … beau … tiful things you gave me today, I … l … left them in the c … car … riage!"

Stepping up to her side, Eric took her left arm and elbow in his hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze. "It's all right. Don't worry love, they're being brought in."

"Oh." she smiled, looking up at Eric appreciatively. "Th … they are?" she asked, noticed how Eric too was shivering slightly, and how pale he looked.

"A … are y … you … g … going to get w … warm t … too Er … Eric?" she asked, a worried look now creeping onto her face.

Eric nodded, wanting to reassure her, with the smile on his face and his joy at hearing Ariel's gorgeous voice never lessening. "Tell Carlotta more about our trip."

She smiled, wanting to lean up against him, a desire conflicting directly with her nearly equal desire to tell someone, anyone, about _everything_ she had experienced and how it had made her feel. Sometimes she just wanted to share her joy of discovery with others, but it had never occurred to her _why_.

Following Eric's encouragement, Ariel continued, speaking of the Boyd Plantation, and how this week it had been different, how there had been a new baby horse, and how the little pigs and puppies were each larger, and more playful than the week before, though some seemed to be missing, which puzzled her.

The similarly decorated and adjoining Jomfruøerne Room and Salon each proved successively warmer and Ariel began to feel the coldness within her subsiding more and more as she passed through them. She had learned their names as well as those of what she knew to be those of the most important rooms in the palace through her wanderings and explorations, mostly with Eric but some by herself.

It still confused her, the nested repetitiveness of it all, the unnatural regularity with which humans built, the straight, exact angles, so different from the organic and flowing curves of cultivated and husbanded coral, where each shape and each structure was also alive and unique. Human structures were beautiful and magnificent, even perfect in a way she found herself unable to articulate, but she found it so terribly easy to get completely turned around and lost inside one, even inside Eric's palace wherein she had now lived for many weeks.

Entering the South end of the colonnaded Audience Hall, she found the room lying in its customary silent, shadowed state, with the early evening gloom leaving it even more dark than usual. To their left was the warmly-lit Grand Stair, its landings and marble flights illuminated by lanterns hanging suspended from the curving walls above.

As Carlotta led her upward hand in hand, Ariel was careful to watch where her feet fell, lifting the hem of her water laden gown so that she could see her shoes during each cautious step, shoes that held feet she could now barely feel. She wasn't going to let herself fall again if she could help it, not after having succeeded in doing so for the whole day.

"I wish that I could have seen those _little_ ones!" Carlotta replied to Ariel's description of the foals and other baby animals in which the girl had again apparently found such delight.

"Oh … Carlotta, they're s … so ado … rable and s … sweet."

As Eric listened, enjoying the delight in his fiancée's voice as much as the chill in it worried him. As he did so, he caught an admiring and rather pleased sidelong glance from Grimsby. Eric furrowed his brows to which Grimsby simply smiled and chuckled to himself.

To this, continuing his silent conversation with the young prince, Grimsby leaned over. _"If, my boy, you were wondering what she might desire for a certain upcoming special day, I should advise you to listen closely."_

Eric listened and thought for a moment, then smiled and nodded; not the least because the coolness that had prevailed between him and Aubrey seemed to have warmed somewhat.

Finally, the four emerged out onto the south floor of the Dance Hall.

Feeling that she was now on a flat floor and safe, Ariel looked back over her left shoulder at both Eric and Aubrey, realizing she wouldn't see her love again until dinner, however long from now that would be. The thought of being separated from him after having spent the whole day together left her feeling quite sad, and already a little bit lonely.

She was surprised though at what she saw, Eric seemed to be staring at her as he followed her up the stairs, and so did Aubrey; both also seemed to be trying to keep from smiling, and not succeeding very well at it she thought.

What did _that_ mean?

Innocently she smiled back with a curious and somewhat puzzled look gracing her eyes and face. Then the former mermaid turned her head back in the direction Carlotta was leading her.

And there she stopped, frozen where she stood at the south end of the Hall, her dark blue eyes widening and delicate chin dropping, as she tried to recognize what she was seeing before her.

 _"Eric …"_ she whispered softly. _"Wh … what is it?"_

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _If you are interested in my thoughts on how Ariel is reacting to the troubles and threats in her new life, a new commentaries in my profile,_

8\. The Little Maiden - An Inverted Lens on Ariel in the Human World

9\. Regarding the Weather - Depictions of Weather and Climate in "Ariel's Isle"

10\. Saint Croix

* * *

 ** _Acknowledgments and Credits:_**

 ** _Cover Art:_** _As Before_

 ** _Creative Contributions:_** _As before, though I would like to thank the BritCrit for her thoughts on the setting in her review of chapter 2 and offer that I hope the way I address her concerns will prove quite exciting as well as satisfying. I also want to thank TheQueenieofCourse for her thoughts on little mermaids learning to drive!_


	4. Juletræ - Evergreen

**Author's Note:** _For all of those here in the States, Happy Thanksgiving! (That would be "T'anksgiving" coming from Sebastian.) I would also like to extend my thanks_ _and appreciation_ _to everyone here in FanFiction, past or present, who has written stories that I have reviewed, reviewed my own stories, and even just exchanged notes with me. You've been a treasure … especially certain_ _mermaids_ _out there. (You know who you are!)_ :-)

 _Given the return of the Yuletide season, how can I not indulge in at least a little bit more of "Juletrae?" Over the past eleven months or so, I've concentrated instead on both "Sael" and a Master's Degree, with the latter receiving most of my devotion as of late. Still, "Juletrae": hasn't been far from my mind. A major challenge in writing it has been not spoiling too much of what is yet to come in Sael, as the stories are set only two weeks apart. _

**_Forums:_** _I am now posting additional essays and supplemental information regarding the world of "Ariel's Isle" in my forums. So far, most of the information therein was previously located in my profile, which I have now shortened. This will change as I add new essays. There are several categories. Please "follow" if you wish to receive updates when new material is posted. Functional hyperlinks are at the top of my profile, but FanFiction strips them out when I try to include them in the story._

https: www fanfiction net/myforums/Axantur/5311978/

 _ **Publication Date:**_ _Wednesday, November 23rd, 2016 (Thanksgiving Eve!). (Author's notes updated Sunday, November 27th, 2016)_

* * *

 **Juletræ**

 **Chapter 4 –** **Evergreen**

 **~~~ Saturday, the 30th of November, 1805 AD ~~~**

 **~ 5:57 p.m. ~**

 **Christiansborg Palace – Christiansted, Sankt Croix**

* * *

 **~ Deeper Meanings ~**

The East Wing of the Christiansborg Slot stood cold, dark, and quiet … almost. Despite the sun having not quite yet set, the blustery gloom outside had ensured that evening had already begun its visit to the lofty halls of the palace.

Ariel was not accustomed, however, to either the darkness or the distinct chill in which she now stood, and for a brief moment, she wondered if she should be excited, afraid, or a little of both. She hesitated when Eric didn't immediately reply to her question; but when he neither moved to her side nor stepped in front of her, the young woman knew that the mysterious atmosphere of the room couldn't conceal a threat. If there was anything that she had realized over the past seven weeks with her prince, it was that despite his seemingly relaxed boyish charm, Eric tolerated _nothing_ that might endanger her and would quickly step in the way of any peril, either real or perceived. It was a quality of his that she had found that she rather adored, given that in just the last few weeks, she had discovered that despite its beauties and wonders, her new world was far more dangerous than she had allowed herself to believe as a mermaid.

"Eric hasn't, though, stepped to my side or pulled me behind him." she thought; so whatever it was before her that she was now looking upon must be _safe_.

As that little moment of uncertainty passed, Ariel began to feel a growing sense of excitement, excitement at something _new_ to be discovered. The former mermaid's eyes grew wide and her delicate chin dropped ever so slightly. Still cold and shivering, the young maiden stood fascinated by what she saw before her, wondering what it was.

The chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling above, lanterns protruding from the long walls, candelabras on the many stone mantles; every luminary she had seen that had beforehand filled the great hall at night with a beautiful golden brightness … was now extinguished, darkened.

In their places, perhaps, the many _hearths_ of that long chamber now stood alive with dancing yellow and red flame, all of them, or such as those that she could see. She looked to the closest, having seen one lit only a handful of times, and then normally for cooking or boiling water to warm her bath. Never had she seen so many lit all at once and in so dark a setting. Their incandescence reminded her of her father's Trident. Reflected about the long hall, the combined effect of the dancing lights that they cast seemed somewhat reminiscent of the Eärelen, but more golden and red in hue. It had been years since she had last looked upon it upon her mother's breast, but no length of time nor even tragedy could diminish the memory of its beauty in her mind and heart.

Within that nearest hearth, a stack of cut wood glowed red and gold at its edges, hissing, crackling, and popping as though it were laden with loud, fiery snapping shrimp, until little sparks spat forth and slowing, drifted up the high chimneys above. Even from as far away down the hall as the stairs leading up to her bedchamber, Ariel could distantly discern the sounds of burning, sizzling wood.

She remembered that second night of her human life beside the lagoon with Eric, when she had sat there with him upon the shore, soaking wet and cold, wet and cold like she had remembered only once before feeling. He had built a fire for her then, to warm and dry both her and her clothes before they had returned to the palace. She remembered how she had stared at it in fascination; how he had caught her hand in his own the instant before she had touched the hungry flames. She remembered how she had felt as both her hope and heart had shattered as that moment of closeness between them had vanished, just as her hope had been returning in the wake of her lost first kiss.

It was the first time that Ariel had seen so many of the hearths lit, though she had learned of their uses many weeks before from Eric. Until today, she could have never imagined the need for any fires, let alone so many, but was now quite thankful for their collective warmth … if only she could get closer to this one … any one.

The entire Dance Hall, its many graceful arches and vaulted ceilings, its long lines of alcoves and statues, its tall ranks of arched windows looking out upon the quay; beyond the firelight, all of them lay submerged in shadow and darkness. Had it not been for the reflections of the many fires in the ornate hangings and mirrors of the chamber, all would have been hidden from Ariel's sight. Through the windows dribbled in a cold dimness, gray, almost black, giving proof that the day outside was finally failing.

The former mermaid sighed.

It was all so … _beautiful_.

Ariel thought quietly about how she knew the names now for so many of these gorgeous things, _human_ things – fireplaces and hearths, ceilings and arches, statues and windows. She knew of fires and wood, and where they came from, even how fire was made. Eric, Carlotta, and Gertrude Elise had taught her most of them, Archimedes a few others before she had become human; some she even had learned all by herself. There was, however, no substitute for actually _experiencing_ them, whether on her own, or so much better, in Eric's arms.

It was not the fires, though, that had transfixed her the most, nor the appointments of the vast chamber, as had so many things, sights, sounds, and sensations every day in her new world. It was not these that had elicited her initial, almost frightened, question to Eric.

No.

It was the _silhouette_.

In the midst of the spacious hall, between her and the distant stairs that led up to her bedchambers, stood a tall … _something_.

A very tall something.

In the deep shadows that enshrouded that place, it lay hidden, its vaguely triangular outline revealed only by the flickering reddish-yellow light from the many fireplaces. As she canted her head slightly to her left, Ariel began to discern hints as to its mysterious shape; edges, angles, and surfaces that shone and danced amidst a yellowish red sheen that rose and fell upon them like waves washing onto the shore.

Carlotta Grimaldi stood at her side, holding her right hand. Behind her, standing just on the threshold of the stairs, Eric and Aubrey looked on. Looking first to Carlotta, then over her shoulder back to Eric, Ariel saw that the eyes of each remained gently focused upon her, something that made her feel rather self-conscious. In the dim light, she realized that each of them was _smiling_ , trading glances between her, the other two, and the object that stood before them in the waiting hall.

Eric had watched silently as his little mermaid had examined the hearths and the chamber's strange, tall object with care and hesitation. Her eyes shone in the dim red light as she struggled to understand what she was seeing, caught as she often was between perplexity and awe. Her damp hair shimmered in the golden red light, the folds of her gown and fine features of her face rose and fell with the shadows cast by her own gentle movements. In that moment, the young prince was sure that she was the most beautiful creature on earth, yet he had always thought so, since the moment that he had first seen her …

"… _silhouetted above him upon the shore."_ he realized. Eric felt his heart swell with love as she turned to him, her face hidden in the soft shadows that danced about it. His smile grew.

As Ariel's gaze finally came to meet Eric's, she found his eyes filled with what could only be a look of love and admiration. She smiled back, wondering what this was all about.

"It's all right _love_. Go ahead, have a look." he said quietly, breaking the silence that had fallen.

His voice was soft, quiet, but held within it a tone that made her feel very safe, as it always did. Whatever it was that stood before her, Ariel finally decided that she now felt comfortable being _excited_ about it. She took a hesitant step forward, turning her eyes back toward the silhouette as she shivered beneath the wet cloak and blanket that she now wore, wondering optimistically if the fire nearest the object might offer any warmth.

Slowly, she stepped out across the dance floor; the soft clicks of her damp heels the only sound heard against the sizzling and crackling of the blazing fires. It was a sound that she found she rather liked, one so symbolic of her newfound humanity, so laden with the memories of her first day as a human being. It was a sound utterly impossible for her to have imagined in her former life.

After the events and her distress two weeks ago, she was so thankful and amazed that she was able to once again walk and maintain her balance so well. It occurred to Ariel that humans took their skill at these things so much for granted. Balancing oneself often seemed such a frighteningly difficult and elusive task, but one crucial to not just her safety, but also her very validity as a human girl. She wondered if it seemed unreasonable for a former-mermaid to be so afraid of falling, not just of its resultant pain, but much worse, of the offense it gave to her sense of whom and what she desired so much to be.

As Eric walked with the others close behind her, he watched his little mermaid as she approached the tall unknown that towered over her in the center of the hall. Sometimes, he liked to let her questions linger like this, not answering them directly, letting her enjoy the thrill of her own discoveries, just as long as he knew that she was safe.

That he had managed to save her life from the Witch against all chances; that her father had managed to restore her human form despite the closing of her fate; these were gifts to not just his beloved, but to him as well. In the end, though, his love's true humanity, her _soul_ as she might have it, was hers alone to win; to win against the deceits and perils of the world, to win in a way that he could not for her; simply through the living of a virtuous human life. Always, though, he would be there, with her, for her; and if he could, he would never let anything separate them, not after all through which they had together been.

He smiled as he admired his fiancée's elegance as she moved, the gentleness in her steps and grace in her movements. Watching her silhouetted at first against the firelight, the way that she moved and carried herself, the skirts of her gown held in her left land yet still swaying about her ankles as she walked; Ariel reminded him of a song in motion.

Save when she fell, there was always almost a melody in how his little mermaid moved, a harmony in the graceful motions of her arms, hands, and torso of which she seemed so unaware. To Eric, they added so much to her already stunning beauty, bringing to mind that moment when she had first appeared to him in the Dining Hall little less than two months before. A wistfulness suffused his smile as he allowed himself to remember, as he watched that same girl now wrapped in a blanket and his wet cloak before him.

Ariel stepped closer to and then around the strange object, whatever it was, able now to discern far better than before its dark triangular shape. It was very large; round at the bottom, coming to a sharp point at its top that stood high above her. A fresh, aromatic scent pervaded the air about it, a coolness that reminded her of the green leaves that Chef Louis sometimes used to garnish his desserts. It had branches, pointing upward and outward like many of the corals that she had known, but in far greater profusion.

Was it … was it a _tree_?

She had seen some trees on their isle, of which this object reminded her, but _their_ branches had looked different, pointing upward much more than these did. Reaching out, she felt it for the first time, letting her fingers play at its soft tips, but she found that it had no _leaves_ , and instead, something like the small soft _needles_ of the strange trees that Eric had shown her. These needles, though, neither pricked nor stung her sensitive fingers, as had those when she had touched them.

By now she stood between her new discovery and the closest hearth, gratefully feeling the warmth of the latter's flames against her back as she saw her own shadow cast in its light against the strange object before her. Following its ragged edge upward with her gaze, she marveled at its height, thinking it must be easily three, perhaps even four times her own.

As Eric and the others watched, he savored how the firelight flickered against it, and saw it thus reflected in Ariel's eyes, still playing upon her damp hair as she circled it and reaching out, touched it almost like she might a newborn child. It was the first time that he too had ever seen one, a Yule tree, but that was the last thing then on his mind. Instead, his attention remained fixed upon the vision in green that walked half-wrapped in a blanket slightly before him, caught in fascination at this latest discovery that she was experiencing.

Eric could feel the warmth radiating from the fireplace behind her and was happy for that, happy that his beloved might be warmer now, knowing how cold she had felt to him outside, and therefore how cold she must herself have felt. Now though, he could feel the curiosity and excitement in his sweet little mermaid's heart, just by how she held herself, how quiet she was, how fixed her eyes were on what she saw before her.

Though a smile had been playing in her eyes and at her lips, now that she held a soft bough in her hands, stroking it, she leaned forward, closing her eyes, and drew in a soft breath through her nose. Immediately her smile grew into a grin as she opened her eyes in delight, looking over to Eric, as well as the man and woman who had practically raised him as their own son.

"Eric _please_ … what is it!?" she begged, clasping her slender hands together in delight almost trembling with excitement as she stood there, so overcome with curiosity she was. As she did so, the heavy blanket slipped from her shoulders and fell to the floor below, leaving her exposed to the lingering chill in the air. She looked down at the blanket, now piled around the hem of her skirts, then back up to Eric.

"A _Yule tree_ , love." he said softly, smiling as he looked to Grimsby and then Carlotta, each of whom he found to be smiling as well.

"A … _yule_ … tree?" she replied, her smile softening but not fading as the firelight continued to dance in the left corners of her eyes, to flicker and shimmer in the sheen of her wet crimson hair and face. Her eyes looked to Carlotta, then Grimsby, then to the tree again, seeking something more.

As she watched the former mermaid looking with such awe upon the tree, Carlotta Grimaldi couldn't help but think of her own two little girls whom had never seen even their first Christmas, her little angels whom she had never even once seen after they were taken from her. The Housekeeper felt such a pain in her chest, rising to her throat, thinking of all their Christmases that could have together been. But then, she thought of all of those Christmases that she and Eric had enjoyed with Aubrey, of their little house near the Amalienborg, and all those that they would share with this wonderful _new_ daughter whom they were about to welcome into their happy little family.

Stepping over to the girl's side, the woman wrapped her arms around her, replying softly to her earlier question as she did so. _"It's a Christmas tree, angel."_

A little surprised by the Housekeeper's unanticipated gesture of affection, but not at all upset by it, Ariel lowered her head, laying it against Carlotta's right shoulder as the woman rocked her and smiling softly as she did so. Though only seven weeks a human, Ariel knew already what an _angel_ was, rather liking the term for its intended sweetness and in comparison to " _ainahala_ ," a word that her father, Attina, and Alana had always used affectionately of her, and supposedly before them, her mother.

She tried to force out of her mind memories of the _thing_ that she had once hoped to be her Aunt, for it too had used that term of endearment of her.

Aside from Eric's embrace, she couldn't imagine any place that she now felt warmer or more loved in her new world than in Carlotta Grimaldi's arms. Opening her eyes, Ariel looked up.

"A Chr … Chri … _Christmas_ tree …" the young woman repeated, her slender red eyebrows slowly knitting together as she considered what she had just been told, wondering if its name related to the meaning of words, a name, that she had heard with Eric when she had accompanied him to church the past several Sundays. The word seemed … familiar … to her somehow, as though she had come across it sometime before; sometime, perhaps, even before she had met Eric.

"What … what does it … _do_?" she asked softly, the excitement and happiness rising in her voice at this beautiful new thing that shimmered in the firelight before her eyes.

Rocking the young maiden slightly back and forth in her arms as the two stared at the tree before them, the Housekeeper paused to collect a few of her many thoughts, wondering how to explain something so personal and so complicated in a way that their former mermaid might understand, given her newness to both humanity and Eric's faith. After a few moments of quiet reflection and reverence for what the tree meant to her personally, the woman spoke.

"It's for showing our love for each other sweetheart," Carlotta paused, kissing the girl lightly on her left temple. "… and for reminding us of how very deeply we are _all_ loved."

Ariel smiled at Carlotta's gesture, considering her words and wondering what they meant, feeling blessed by the older woman's seemingly unconditional affection for her. The young princess remained still, her head nestled against the Housekeeper's shoulder; her blue eyes fixed upon the majestic tree before her, watching it in wonder as the light of the many hearths of the hall continued to dance and glimmer in and upon its fragrant boughs.

" _There must be some special significance to it."_ she thought, because while she had seen green plants and flowers inside human buildings, the churches she and Eric visited for example, she had never seen a _tree_ inside of one; not until now, that is. She tried to remember then. What was it that she had once read wherein she had found the word Carlotta had used _"... Chris … Christmas?"_

Grimsby and Eric stood nearby, listening in silence to the two women, sharing furtive smiling glances with one other, happy to see a plan long made coming at last to fruition. Between moments of almost boyish awe, each man silently considered the two ladies before him, how much each of them meant to him, each in his own way thinking, that true happiness comes … _in the form of a woman_.

"Oh dear … you're _still_ so wet and cold." Grimaldi worried quietly. "We need to get you upstairs."

Ariel looked up at the Housekeeper with a look of disappointment and even alarm in her eyes.

"Carlotta my dear," Grimsby broke the silence. "Your point is quite well taken. We mustn't forget that our young princess would do best with a warm bath and dinner. She must be _absolutely famished_ and half frozen after that long damp ride through the wind and rain."

The Housekeeper turned slightly to him and smiled, obviously enjoying her moment with their former mermaid. Ariel looked over as well.

"But Carlotta ... I'm feeling warmer now, I promise." Ariel pleaded, not wanting the moment interrupted just as she was about to learn _everything_ about this new discovery. Somehow, perhaps it was the fiery hearth behind her, perhaps it was the insistent warmth of Carlotta Grimaldi, the former mermaid felt less cold and more warm … much more warm.

An almost desperate look entered the girl's eyes as she looked to the other woman. "Carlotta, aren't you going to tell me more about the Chr … Chris … mas … _Christmas tree_?" Then, turning to Grimsby she continued, "The … Yule … Tree?" Then in a last moment of desperation to learn more, she turned finally to Eric. "Are they the same? Eric, what is _Yule_? What's _Christmas_!? Are Yule and Christmas … are they the same thing … or are they like Inwilan and the Bri … British Empire?"

The Housekeeper laughed gaily, beginning to walk the girl toward the staircase at the north end of the hall leading up to her bedchambers, "Oh, _honey_ , now don't you _worry_ about that tree. Master Hans told me all about it, and I promise, he'll tell _you_ all about it _tonight at dinner_."

" _At dinner_? _Hans_ is coming to _dinner_!?" the girl squealed, bouncing slightly, her growing disappointment giving way immediately to a sudden excitement. She hadn't seen the old sailor for at least a week and aside from being the source of the best birthday present she had _ever_ received, she had found him to be kind, caring, every bit as gentle as Aubrey – and fun too!

In fact, it rather upset her that he didn't himself reside in the palace with them, given his long closeness to Eric.

Given that the girl was still too cold and too wet despite her protestations, and that there was still so much to yet be said about their new addition to the Prince's household Yule celebration, Carlotta felt that the topic would best wait until dinner. As she had hinted, they had arranged for the young Prince's old friend and Sailing Master to join and regale them with tales of the strange German custom.

"Yes dear, and I'm sure he can tell you _everything_ you want to know about that tree and more if I can only get you and that boy of yours washed up, dried, and properly dressed." she said, looking worriedly at the nearby grandfather clock, its pale dial and golden Gothic numbers only dimly lit by the firelight. "Now come along."

Eric cast a sidelong glance and smirk at Grimsby, who, also seeing the irony in Carlotta Grimaldi's words struggled to contain his own mirth. As both men now knew, it was their firm belief that no one alive was capable of telling their little mermaid _everything_ she wanted to know, for her curiosity and insatiable interest in new things were simply _boundless_.

"But Carlotta … I …" the girl paused, turning slightly and looking back over her left shoulder to her prince.

" _Eric?"_

"It's alright love. Let Carlotta warm you up and get you dressed. I'll be waiting for you for dinner. I can't wait!"

"But … aren't you going to get warm too?" she asked, an unmistakable worry in her voice. "You don't even have a bla … _blanket_." She said, looking down at hers, which Carlotta was now retrieving from the floor.

"Don't worry, love, I'm going to get myself warmed up." He smiled as he spoke, chuckling softly. "That's _one thing_ you can be _certain_ of."

Seemingly comforted by his reassurance and laughter the young princess smiled sweetly. Raising her right hand at the elbow, she waved her fingers to him especially, though she cast her beautiful smile to Grimsby as well. She continued to look at Eric over her shoulder, smiling, even as Carlotta walked her away.

Eric watched the two women as they slipped into the shadows beyond the firelight, approaching the stairs beyond. Near one of the farthest fireplaces, he discerned a sidelong movement as Carlotta leaned down out of the shadows to light the wick of a candle from the roaring flame. Placing its chimney glass back around it, the Housekeeper set the candle down on the mantelpiece and turned back to Ariel. Eric had to strain somewhat to make out her voice.

"All right now honey; lift the hem of your gown now, let's get those wet shoes off of those pretty feet. I'm sure that they're covered in mu …" The Housekeeper paused for a moment. "Oh good heavens, look at that.

"Carlotta, I'm so sorry, I didn't think that they … why are they so … are they ruined?"

"Don't fret, honey. No, they aren't ruined. They just need cleaned and a good polishing. Now, let's help you out of them.

Eric watched, smiling softly as Ariel shifted uneasily and hopped a little on her left foot as Carlotta slipped the elegant little pump from her right, then shifting to her right foot, repeated the movement with her left. It didn't help the girl's balance that her attention kept wandering back down the hall to the tree … along with the young man who stood now beneath it.

"There, that's it. Now, let's get you up these stairs to your bedchambers. There's a hot bath and hot cocoa waiting for you up there."

"There is? But … " she said, looking back over her shoulder to Eric "Is there something waiting for Eric? He likes tea and cough … cof … coff ... ee."

"There's some nice hot tea waiting for him beside his bath too sweetheart. Now, don't you worry. He'll be right up after you. Come along now, dear."

Stepping back over to their former mermaid, Grimaldi set the girl's shoes aside. Taking her free hand into her own, the Housekeeper began to carefully help Ariel up the stairs.

Before a fortnight ago, Eric had never seen such hesitation, such fear in Ariel's movements. Now, though, whenever heights were involved, one couldn't miss them. Ariel had learned so much in her short seven weeks with him. She was still learning, but part of what she was learning was to be afraid; and that was something Eric couldn't bear, not given how before her arrival in the human world, his world, she had dreamt only of its many wonders.

If only he knew something that could be done about it … anything.

* * *

 **~ Their Lingering Concerns ~**

As was his custom regarding matters of the Household, Aubrey Beauclerk deferred to their Headmistress, and thus remained silent as she led the young princess away. The darkened Dance Hall, Master Hans as their dinner guest, a romantic evening for their two lovebirds; all of it had been a part of the plan Carlotta and he had together contrived, but mostly Carlotta.

The old Lord watched with Eric as the two women made their way up the stairs. Besides her warm and caring nature, perhaps the most delightful aspect of their young mermaid princess was her newness, her almost but not quite childlike sense of wonder, her seemingly limitless curiosity and adorable propensity for astonishment at the beauty of common things, and her intense interest in things often overlooked and ignored by most people.

In Ariel's joyful expressions of happiness, her obvious love for not just Eric, but for both him and Carlotta as well, her love given so freely and so sweetly expressed, each had found a perfect joy. Already the four had become a family of sorts; each had once been broken by loss and in some way lost; but now they had found each other. The day after next Easter, each of them would be made whole.

Grimsby watched as Eric followed Ariel with his eyes, up every stair, every slow, methodical, careful step. Eric's face was long and sad, his eyes glistening as he drew the back of his right arm across them. It was obvious that he wanted to be there, helping her up those stairs himself, just as it was obvious that he still blamed himself for everything that had happened to her. Of course, that wouldn't do.

"Don't fret my boy, she'll come through this." the old man offered in a quiet voice.

Eric looked over at his mentor, his eyes wide with surprise; then he sighed and lowered his head slightly in embarrassment. _"Sorry Grim."_ he whispered.

The old man smiled and chuckled softly in reply. "Oh, well … Eric." Stepping closer, Grimsby wrapped his left arm on the younger man's shoulders, tugging the boy closer to himself and giving him a hardy shake. "It's not as though the rest of us aren't worried for her as well."

Grimsby said nothing of how he and Carlotta now worried about _Eric_ too, considering the late hours that the prince now kept, along with the single-minded sense of protective responsibility that he had adopted on Ariel's behalf. Since the girl had entered his life, especially over the past fortnight, the young man had evinced a renewed seriousness toward his duties, while still making as much time he might to court the young woman as was expected of a gentleman for his lady, much less a prince for his princess.

"I think our little mermaid is a most resilient young woman, Eric, more than I suspect you give her credit for." Beauclerk offered this with wry smile, studying his young charge's reaction as he spoke. "It may take a while, but from what I have seen over the past two weeks, her spirit remains mostly unbroken."

Eric smiled, hopeful at Grimsby's assessment. "She usually takes it so well though, like today. Have you ever seen anything so _beautiful_?"

Aubrey stopped and sighed, following Eric's eyes back to the stairs at the far end of the hall, considering the things the girl had just done to which the young man might be referring. Coming to no conclusion, he thought it best simply to continue. "The poor dear, it must be so very difficult for her. It never ceases to amaze me, the wonder of it all, that such wondrous creatures are actually real … _mermaids_." He shook his head slightly, smiling as though almost still in disbelief. "All of this, this mundane world that we so take for granted, how overwhelming it must seem for her."

Eric nodded slowly. "I'm trying to make it as easy for her as I can Grim. I just don't know what else that I can do that I'm not already doing. Sometimes I think it's all just, well, _too much for her_ , even as bright as she is."

"Ah, Eric, I think you are doing very well. Our little Ariel has obviously learned a great deal already. She seems quite happy, and that, I think, should make _all of us_ _quite happy_." As they walked, Aubrey paused in his speech, momentarily considering a new topic. "You understand, of course, why I stopped you from following her out into the rain?"

Eric chuckled. "I'm sure it wasn't that you were worried about me getting wet." The he paused, thinking for a moment. "I _know_ Grim." he continued softly. "She needs to be allowed to make friends and meet people by herself, to learn on her own, to make her own decisions."

Beauclerk nodded in turn. "Yes, of course … well, sometimes. I should think though that our little mermaid is coming along splendidly. It is true, she _has_ been through quite a lot, but she seems to be learning at least as well as any young lady might, and a very clever one at that. As you said, she's very bright, even brilliant sometimes, I think. Oh, and I must confess, her facility with languages is _superb_. Grimsby paused looking at the Grandfather clock as had Carlotta but minutes before. "Reminds me a bit of you actually."

"What?" Eric replied.

"You put your father to shame."

"Only because you and Carlotta made me study all the time when I wanted to be outside playing with Max, and I had to with all of the voyages."

"Ah yes. How could I forget? Not just us, but those sailor friends of yours as well." Beauclerk looked back up the stairs. Carlotta and Ariel had disappeared around the newel and by now should have been nearing the girl's apartments.

Eric paused. "Grim, how is Max? Is he warm? Fed?"

"Oh yes Eric, he's fine, nice and warm in the barracks. It is my understanding that Sergeant Lundgren himself has been watching over him."

"Oh!" Eric said, surprised and smiling. "May he eat dinner with us, Grim? I hate having left him alone all day long."

"Well, my boy, that, I am afraid, is up to Carlotta. I'm sure though that we can make arrangements for you and the young lady to visit him and cheer him up."

Eric nodded in reply. Decorum and the rules of the Household demanded respect, and animals, even his beloved Max, weren't allowed in certain places. Only when Eric had fallen ill had Carlotta allowed Max to remain with him out of sheer hope that his presence would aid the young man's recovery. Eric could count on one hand the number of times the sheepdog had joined him for dinner in the Dining Hall.

"What do you say we get you upstairs to that bath my boy. I'm sure it will do you a world of good to relax, warm, and refresh yourself, yes?" Taking Eric by the left elbow, Beauclerk began to lead him to the Grand Stair.

"Grim, why back in the West Wing? I've been living across from Ariel's room for two weeks now."

"Well, Eric, I'm afraid that is where I had Carlotta have your bath drawn. You'll be dressing nicely this evening for our young lady, and your finest attire remains in your apartments."

"I don't like being that far away from her anymore." the prince replied, not relenting but allowing himself to be drawn along.

"Everything will be fine Eric. Two good men are standing right outside her door, men you picked yourself, I might remind you. Our princess is quite safe. You should try to relax my boy. If you hope to remain by her side, though, you need to rest or else you'll be right back where you found yourself two weeks ago."

"It's just … _hard_ though Grim. I'm just so afraid that something is going to happen, that she'll get hurt, get sick." Eric turned his head back outward toward the windows overlooking the quay as they two began to ascend the Grand Stair. "What else is out there waiting, ready to come for her that we don't know about? What if Østerby comes back?"

"Alas Eric, such are the fears of everyone in love, those who realize what they have to lose. You needn't stand _too_ far away, only far enough to let her, spread her _fins_ , so to speak." the old Lord mused, smirking at himself in his cheekiness, carefully avoiding mention of the extreme measures that he had himself set in place against such threats.

"I know. I'm surprised that she hasn't been more upset about her escort. Even her father was shocked that she hasn't tried to slip away."

The two now began to climb the outer spiral of the stair. Now holding his elderly mentor's arm in his own to support him, Eric couldn't help but notice how frail old Grimsby seemed. If anything, he seemed even more hesitant than Ariel as he took each step.

"Why, whatever do you mean, my boy?"

"From what he told me, _that_ was her favorite pastime, evading the palace guards that he assigned to her when she had him in a temper." Eric looked down at the lower flights for a moment. "Which happened a _lot_ , at least from the stories that he's told me."

"Ah, yes, I seem to recall some of them. Fascinating fellow." The old man replied in a dry, dispassionate voice. "It's hard to imagine really, such a turn of events, isn't it?" he asked, wishing that he could take a puff on his pipe now, and looking forward to a moment later that night when he could retire outside to relax and think.

"What do you mean, Grim?"

"Oh, well, nothing really Eric …" the old man drolled, allowing himself to smile mischievously. "… just the minor matter of gaining a lesser god of the sea for your father in law."

Eric broke out into a laugh at what had become a private joke between the two men, and then he grew quieter, allowing his own smile fade a bit. "I like him a lot, and I always look forward to spending time with him. Ariel is so blessed to have him as her father."

Aubrey nodded silently in reply, quite pleased at how such a potentially troublesome meeting between the merman and his future son-in-law had grown into such a fond relationship. At times, Beauclerk wondered if Triton might have found in Eric a son that he had wished for but never had, enough so that he worried that Eric might someday exchange his legs for a tail and swim off with their little mermaid on some mad aquatic adventure. Eric, though, had given no such sign, and Grimsby wondered if it were even possible. Even if it were, Carlotta would be surely beside herself at such an announcement.

" _Such an irony given the merman's legendary hatred of human beings."_ the old man considered, realizing that the same thought had occurred to him just weeks before.

Reaching the uppermost floor and the royal apartments, the pair passed the statue of Holger the Dane, the epee that Grimsby had earlier drawn now safely back in place. A hint of scented traan filled the air, wafted into the room from the bright-burning lanterns mounted for along the hundred of feet of hallway that led to the Prince's apartments at the west end of the palace. Despite the light, the many alcoves and crossings left much of the hallway in shadow.

"I'm worried about her, Grim. We almost had an argument coming back from Frederiksted." Eric said, hanging his head and shaking it slightly.

"Oh? I'm sorry to hear that Eric, but it's not unusual for a couple, young or old." Aubrey said, as the men walked along. "Tell me more. What was this argument about?"

Eric was quiet for a moment, thinking, as though he weren't sure if he should reveal any more. For a moment, he closed his eyes. _"Men."_

"Men?"

"Yes, _men_. Other men … mermen actually, being alone with them in strange places."

"Ah. I see. And you objected? Was there an example?" the old courtier asked.

Ahead, the twin doors to the Prince's apartments loomed in the lantern light. Were it not for the detestable weather outside, Aubrey thought, the moon might have provided a better light that evening, given that it was overhead and nearly half-full, or so had gone the late afternoon report from Lieutenant Isaakson.

"Archimedes." Eric replied. "Ariel said that he and she would go to air-filled caves together to practice speaking English."

"Ah. Fine fellow. Excellent name, though a bit unusual for a merman, don't you think? I rather like the chap. Doesn't look half his age you know."

"Please, don't remind me Grim." Eric lamented, considering once again the one, most painful possibility of his impending union with Ariel.

"So Eric, what exactly is your concern then? Surely you don't worry that she has feelings for the fellow?"

"No, _of course not_." Eric scoffed, looking off into the sky as the two passed beneath a dark window above. Great streaks of rain driven by the outside wind ran across its face, glimmering in the golden light of the hallway's lanterns. The glass rattled and shook beneath the wind.

"It's just that; well, it's not _proper_ and if that had happened with her and someone like Østerby she … she …" Eric's words caught in his throat, and he quickly wiped at his eyes.

Grimsby paused alongside the prince as the latter came to a standstill. "Yes, my boy?"

"She … could be hurt, or killed, or … or _worse_."

Fighting to maintain his composure, Eric changed the topic. "Even if she is with a perfect gentleman like Archimedes, people will still talk, Grim. Eventually those words, the rumors, they'll catch up to her, hurt her." Eric looked to the older man, his face anguished as he imagined what might happen to his innocent fiancée. He thought of Ariel's sweet smile, how she would regard him with such joyfulness and love when he introduced her to something new. He thought of how guileless she was, unable, he imagined, even to conceive of looking to another for what she had found already in him. He wondered though, had he taken her love, her devotion, for granted? He didn't want to. Instead, he always wanted to be worthy of it.

"She just doesn't seem to realize how bad it could get; not yet at least."

"No? So, Eric, tell me, what happened with this argument that _almost_ happened?"

"Nothing. Noth …" Once again, Eric's voice cracked and he choked on his words, lifting his right hand to wipe at his eyes. This time though, he was too late. A tear ran down his face. _"She just … collapsed … Grim. She just broke and cried."_ He whispered, lowering his head again. The prince simply stared at his hand, which glistened now in the flickering yellow light. _"She didn't even try to defend herself."_

Beauclerk put his hand on Eric's shoulder in a feeble attempt to comfort the boy. "Yes, I see." He paused, considering Eric's words in light of everything that had befallen their little family-to-be since the Princess's arrival many weeks ago. "Eric. I'm afraid that I sense that blackguard Østerby's work still at play, don't you?"

"I don't know Grim." Eric paused, thinking back to their ride back from Frederiksted. "At first, I thought so, but how can we be sure? Even after talking with her father, we still have no idea of who he was or what he did to her, or any of us; do we?" He sighed. "I wanted to believe that it was just all of the terrible things that she's been through, that it would pass with time; that time would heal her."

Aubrey Beauclerk remained quiet, listening, waiting for the younger man to continue.

"Now, though," Eric looked up to meet the older man's gaze. "Now, I'm not so certain."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** _For those who follow my tales, you may already have noticed that I sometimes make minor revisions to previously published chapters. Normally this is to correct typographical errors or improve dialog, sentence flow, or paragraph structure. Sometimes though, I do this as part of a deliberate plan of obfuscation within my storytelling._

 _There are secrets in Ariel's Isle, secrets that I don't perhaps want the readers to immediately recognize. I allude to, offer hints about, and have strewn them through all of the stories that are congruent with the main story. Currently "Night Comes to Ariel's Isle" no longer fits this scheme, but it will eventually. Think of these elements as little rewards for studying a chapter in detail or simply going back and re-reading it._

 _ **Secrets and Hidden Meanings:**_ _There are hidden meanings, secrets, Sael, in Juletrae, in all of the stories of Ariel's Isle, secrets that I don't perhaps want the readers to recognize immediately. There are layers upon layers to the world and many different perspectives. I allude to, offer hints about, and have strewn these elements through all of the stories that are congruent with the main story. Currently "Night Comes to Ariel's Isle" no longer fits this scheme, but it will eventually. Think of these elements as little rewards for studying a chapter in detail or simply going back and re-reading it._

 ** _A Special Note:_** _Once again, thank you to everyone who has reviewed my stories to date. It means so much to me to hear others' thoughts and feelings, and lets me know that my efforts are worthwhile and appreciated. I hope to publish at least one more chapter of "Juletrae," as well as "Sael" and "Atalantë" before the season ends, which the Nameless One (one of my more distant readers I think) reminded me, actually takes place January 7th in some parts of the world! That gives me extra time!_

 _God bless all of you!_

* * *

 _ **Acknowledgments and Credits:**_

 _ **Cover Art:**_ _"The Little Mermaid: The Holiday Treasure Hunt." (Oh, Converse, where did you go?)_

 _ **Creative Contributions:**_

 _* Among the many lovely stories here in FanFiction is "Coldness and Burning" by Rosa Cotton, published on February 13, 2009._

s/4860580/1/Coldness-and-Burning

 _This story is simply lovely, and mesmerizing, delving into one of those moments just barely glimpsed between Ariel and Eric, after their boat capsized throwing them both into the lagoon that seems to lie not far from his palace._

 _In the movie, we hear Eric's words,_ _ **"whoa, hang on, I've got ya."**_ _as he comes to Ariel's aid and lifts her out of the rather shallow water. If one studies the image above Ursula's cauldron well, Ariel and Eric, even the expressions on their faces, can both be seen, and there's a little story to be told. Rosa does so wonderfully, and I highly recommend it for anyone who hasn't read it. Even if you have, it's worth another visit._

 _As I've mentioned before, I could never improve upon some moments that other writers have imagined, nor would I want to try. Instead, I offer them to you with the sentiment that somehow, they happened much like that in my own story as well._

 _* I think that there is also a wink in here for Converse R Life's "Altered Reality." You can find the chapter here:_

 _s/5616737/14/Altered-Reality_


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